One of those unwanted telemarketer calls finally paid off for a recipient. A 24-year-old man from Alpine was hiking off-trail in the Lost Mine Peak area when he received a call from a telemarketer on his cell phone, which he thought he’d turned off due to lack of service. Following this brief interruption, he resumed his wilderness hike. Later that day, he dislodged a large boulder while descending a slope. It struck him on the head, then landed on his leg, causing a possible broken ankle. Remembering the earlier phone call, he dragged himself to a location where he believed he might be able to get a cellular signal. He was successful and was able to reach park dispatch and provide the dispatcher with his GPS location. Rangers reached his location after dark, and, due to the terrain, opted to bivouac overnight with him. A litter team reached their location at daylight and the man was carried back to the trail, transported by horseback to a waiting ambulance at the trailhead, and taken to a hospital. Since the hiker was well of the park’s trail system, the prospect of learning about and locating him in a timely fashion would have been extremely difficult without the 911 call. Ranger/pilot Jim Traub was IC.
