A runner who got lost in Washington state’s vast wilderness for an entire month this summer is sharing his harrowing experience, saying he was largely unprepared for the ordeal and was on the verge of death when he was finally found.
Robert Schock, a 39-year-old ultra runner, told People magazine They set off for 32 kilometres In North Cascades National Park on July 31, with his dog and a small backpack containing limited supplies.
“I’m not a hiker. I don’t backpack and go out on multi-day trips. I don’t know how to fish. I want to finish the course as quickly as possible and get home. So I didn’t have a shirt. I had a pair of shorts, and I had (my dog) Freddie “And those were the only items in my little bag,” he said.
Schock told Cascadia News that he was Sense of adventure On that day, in search of stunning views, he decided to use the cable car suspended over the Chilliwack River to pull himself to the opposite bank.
But when he reached the other side, he became disoriented by the landscape changed by bushfires in recent years, and realized his phone had lost its GPS.
PNTA crew members use a cable car to cross the Chilliwack River in North Cascades National Park.
Pacific Northwest Trail Association/Facebook
“When I got out of there, The trail no longer exists“I was curious to know what happened to this track, and my curiosity kept me going,” Schock told People.
On the second day, his phone broke down. But the next day he realized that he was hopelessly lost and began to worry.
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At some point, he spotted a sign directing him to the Canada-US border less than 32 kilometers away, and decided to move on. But when his shoes got wet while trying to fetch water from the river, he took them off to dry, and they were washed away by the river.
“My mind insisted on heading north despite my injured feet,” he told Cascadia News of the beating he took with his bare feet in the rugged terrain. “It was Stupid, immature and amateurish To keep moving forward when I still have the energy to come back.
Meanwhile, Schock’s family began to worry. On August 4, five days after he hit the road, his mother received a phone call from the local Humane Society, saying they had found his dog on the road the previous day near the Chilliwack River.
Jean Thompson called police on August 5 to report her son missing. That same day, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office contacted her, saying they had found a fork at the trailhead.
“The fact that Rob left his car window halfway down the passenger side and his wallet in the vehicle led the deputy to believe that Rob had gone wild with No intention of going out. “I knew that wasn’t the case,” she told People. “Honestly, I never felt like he perished in the park against the odds.”
Over the next several weeks, Schuck did everything he could to survive, taking over abandoned bear nesting sites, eating sour berries, and at one point eating a large mushroom, which “tastes like… (what) you’d have on a pizza.” Or something like that.” Although it is not known if it is safe to eat.
As he was wandering through the forest, trying to find a way out, he saw two helicopters flying, and at one point, he heard the buzzing of a chainsaw. But his cries for help went unheard.
About halfway through the ordeal, he collapsed on the riverbank, incapacitated by pain and hunger, his legs no longer able to carry him. He says that during the day he slept under the warm sun, but the nights were very cold and he only had a backpack to protect his almost naked body from the rain and icy winds.
“I He wasn’t screaming for help “It’s not much anymore,” he told PEOPLE. “I only did it sometimes…I wasn’t in very good shape.”
On August 30, as he lay on the bank of the Chilliwack River, Schock said he lost control of his bowels and “really felt like I was going to die.”
He gathered his energy and let out a final cry for help, fearing that he would not live to see the next day.
It was this last scream that finally caught someone’s attention. Trail maintenance workers from Pacific Northwest Trail Association (PNTA) They were nearby, returning to their camp after a day’s work, and they heard Shouk’s faint cry and made their way to him.
“One of the guys took off his shirt and gave it to me,” Schock told PEOPLE of his rescue. “That man who came and dressed me and Saved my life very well. It’s an understatement to say how truly grateful I am to have those people there that day because it was so close to the finish line.
In a blog post from PNTA, detailing its crew’s rescue efforts that day, the organization wrote that Schock “was not feeling well” when they found him.
“Those involved in the rescue believe that Robert may only have one day left before the outcome of his discovery becomes apparent. More tragic,” Jeff Kish, PNTA’s executive director, wrote in the post.
The countryside crew radioed for a helicopter, and Schock was eventually airlifted to the hospital, where he spent about a month recovering and regaining some of the 50 pounds he lost.
“I often put myself in situations where I wondered if I would ever come back, and I always did, usually by helping someone else come and rescue me,” Schock told Cascadia Daily. “I had a cocky attitude about it. This time was different. I knew, based on where I was, that the likelihood of helping was almost zero. Ready to die there.”
He said he has no intention of returning to the national park in the near future.
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