A hiker stranded on the highest mountain in the Rockies was lost for more than 24 hours–because he didn't recognise the rescue squad's phone number.
The local search and rescue team put up a Facebook post reminding hikers to answer their phones if they get calls from unknown numbers on mountains, after the hiker got lost in the snow overnight.
Rescuers were called at around 8PM on October 18th once the hiker didn't return to their car after setting off at 9AM earlier that day.
After they couldn't get hold of the rambling rambler by phone, a search party of five people spent five hours looking for him until three o'clock in the morning.
Eventually, the hiker made it back to their camp at 10AM the next day.
The hiker "stated they'd lost the trail around nightfall and spent the night searching for the trail," the rescuers said.
They finally reached their car the following morning, "approximately 24 hours after they'd started their hike".
Apparently the anonymous hiker had no idea that a rescue team was looking for them.
Mobile phones 'cluttered' with 600million phone numbers that are never used
"If you're overdue according to your itinerary, and you star getting repeated calls from an unknown number, please answer the phone; it may be a SAR team trying to confirm you're safe!" the rescue team wrote.
They also reminded hikers than snow will cover the hiking trail until next June.
Anyone can make their phone number anonymous by adding a * and a couple of numbers before dialling someone.
While the tactic is often used by spam callers, it can also be an important call–as the lost hiker's tale goes to show.
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