Maria was sitting at home at her mother’s place when the call came in. Lone male hiker, mid-30s, missing near Seiad Valley, off the Pacific Crest Trail. She grabbed her equipment bag and headed out to the rendezvous point to get the rest of the details and start the search operation.

Maria was a member of the local search and rescue team for the northern sector of California heading to the Oregon border. Every year, there are several hikers that go missing along the remote stretches of the PCT and the surrounding areas, and special teams, along with volunteers, gather to help locate the missing persons. This was Maria’s first year as a paid member of the Search and Rescue team. She was young and hungry to prove herself against some of the grizzled veterans of the team.

She raced down the road to the meeting spot on the trailhead by the town of Seiad Valley, which was about 45 minutes from her home. When she arrived, she put on her Search and Rescue attire and went to find the leader to find out the details of what happened. There was already a large group of volunteers who heeded the call for assistance. Maria joined the professional crew off to the side, who were looking at maps and discussing grid searches. The head of Search and Rescue saw the team together and spoke up.

“Alright people, looks like everyone’s here now. The missing is Walter Davidson, trail name of WagZ, a 34-year-old white male, with moderate hiking and outdoor experience. He was heading north from Seiad Valley, where he last checked in two days ago. He missed two wellness calls from his family and they’ve asked us to look for him. He had a GPS tracker, but it doesn’t appear to be on or working currently. Last known coordinates were 5 miles north of here, which is where we’ll start the search. We have a cold front coming in that might hit us by the evening. It’ll bring strong wind and rain, so let’s find him quickly before that rolls in. Any questions?”

The team got their individual search grids before heading off towards their assigned volunteers. Most of the volunteers were members of the trail community, experienced local hikers with knowledge of the area, and local residents. It was expected that Search and Rescue personnel would keep a close eye on the volunteers so that there isn’t a need to look for someone else.

Maria and another team member gathered their volunteer crews and headed up the trail to their assigned search area. The 5-mile hike-in was hilly and rough but everyone made it to the starting location. She and her partner had the volunteers fan out and do a sweeping search in a northerly direction. The hope was that someone would find a trace or trail of where Walter went.

They started the search at noon and had been searching in grids for hours. One direction led to a small cliff outside of their current search grid and the rest into some brush which they attempted to search. As the day pushed on, there was no sign of the missing hiker. They would periodically call in their searched areas and get updates from headquarters if any information had changed. At this point, even the search dogs hadn’t found a clue of his location yet.

It was close to 5:00pm when the call came in to postpone the search. The clouds of the heavy storm were starting to close in around them and it would be dangerous to leave this large group out there in such weather. Her partner called everyone together to start heading back but Maria was not happy about ending so soon.

“Just give me 30 minutes more. I’ll catch back up with you.” She said impatiently.

“No, we all go back together. You know the rules, Maria,” He replied, “besides, the report said he had the right gear for this weather. If he’s out there and alive, he should be good for the night.”

“Please,” she pleaded, “I just want to check a bit more, I have a gut feeling about this.”

“Maria, you’re too young to have a gut anything. The boss will kill me if we stay longer but I can’t make you come with us. Just catch up before we hit basecamp.”

“Great, thanks. I owe you one,” she replied, heading back to the edge of the search area.

“You’ll owe me a job if I get fired for this!” He yelled as he watched her go off, then rounded up the volunteers and they headed back to the trail for home.

Maria went back to the small cliff and looked down. She couldn’t see anything due to tree cover and foliage, but she knew there was a small stream down there. She carefully picked her way down the slope and made it to the bottom with only a few scraps to show for it. She found herself on the rocky bank of the small stream. It couldn’t have been more than four feet wide and maybe knee deep.

She surveyed the area first, looking for any large signs of her missing hiker but found none. Knowing her time was limited, she walked along the rocky bank following the flow of the water. People usually travel downhill when lost, she told herself. Her hunch was that he might have gotten lost and wandered down towards the sound of the water.

As her time ticked by, the wind began to pick up and the black clouds rose high in the sky. Just as she was about to turn around and head back to where she dropped down, she found what looked like a smashed electronic device, possibly a GPS tracker. She looked around more and shreds of torn clothing and signs of blood. She knew she had to call it in.

“Maria to base, I’ve found what looks like remnants of a GPS device and a blood trail along the bank of the creek just outside of our search perimeter. Over.”

“Maria? You were told to get back with the others, why are you still out there?” The voice answered back.

“I say again, I believe I may have found signs of the hiker.” Annoyed, she continued on along the stream until she spotted something red under some trees. She ran over, careful not to sprain an ankle, and found that the red was from a jacket on some sticks. When she moved it, she found the missing hiker who seemed to be unconscious.

“Maria to base, I found him. He’s at my current location. He appears to be unconscious but he’s alive.”

“Ok, Maria. We’ll talk about protocol later...”

“Hey, keep it down. Can’t a guy die alone in peace?” a voice replied, as Maria looked down to see the man fully awake and looking at her.

“Base hold, victim is awake and communicating. Over.” Maria said into the radio.

“I’m not over, just down and out. Walter Davidson, at your service,” he said, doing a little hand twirl.

“Maria Gutierrez, Search and Rescue. Are you injured; can you walk?” she asked, giving him a cursory onceover. She could see a laceration on his head and blood on his shirt but couldn’t tell if that was from his head or not.

“Ankle’s busted, a few bumps and bruises, and this nice head wound,” he replied, almost cheerfully.

Maria reported his condition to base and the medic on site warned her to check for signs of a concussion or other internal injuries. As they conferred back and forth with Walter chipping in with his own answers, a drop of rain fell on Maria’s face. The storm had arrived.

“Walter, do you still have a tent with you? Or was it broken?” she asked him, in a hurried tone.

“It’s with my pack. Weather’s been good, so I haven’t checked it yet,” he replied.

Maria dug through the pack and found the tent. She pulled it out and checked the poles and material, everything looked ok apart from a tear in one of the corners. She hastily put it up, dug through her bag, and pulled out a roll of duct tape to fix the ripped corner.

“Hey, someone’s prepared!” Walter said, before slowly dragging himself towards the tent. Maria could see the grimace on his face as he moved and did her best to help him get in before she pegged down the ropes to help keep the weather out. She then climbed in herself as the rain started to pour and the wind whipped up the trees.

“Maria to base, weather’s getting rough out here. We cannot, repeat, cannot walk out of here due to an injury. How long until recovery? Over.”

The radio was more staticky now but received the reply. “Sorry Maria, the recovery team had to turn back and it’s too windy for a helicopter. You’ll just have to hunker down until the weather passes.”

“Understood, will update if there’s any change. Over and out,” Maria said, before putting down her radio.

“Sorry, looks like it’s just you and me, Maria. We’ll be fine, I’m sure of it “ Walter said, smiling at her.

“Hey, I’m the one who’s supposed to say that. You’re the injured one here, let me do my job,” she teased, feeling comfortable with this stranger she was now trapped with for some unknown amount of time. She should have felt nervous or apprehensive, but for some reason, she didn’t.

They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the rain beat down on the tent. Maria was unsure how long the storm would last. It was a large front that had blown down from the arctic, and she could already feel the air cooling around them. She had some emergency supplies with her, including a thermal blanket and some food, but it would be a problem if it got too cold.

“How are you doing, Walter?” she asked, making sure he had room around his injured ankle.

“Oh, you know. Just taking it easy. Pretty good vacation so far. I even got a girl in my tent. Oh, and call me Walt,” he said with a smile.

“You wish, Walt. You couldn’t handle me healthy, let alone in your state,” picking up on his jovial attitude.

“You’re probably right,” he laughed, “so what’s a girl like you doing out here all alone? Don’t you usually work in teams?” Maria told him about how she had a hunch about where he might be and stayed behind to keep looking.

“Won’t you get in trouble for not following protocol?” he asked.

“Maybe, but I’m hoping they are more lenient since I was right and found you. Unless you die before they get to us. Then it’s fifty-fifty,” Maria said, feeling comfortable enough around Walt to make such a joke.

“Well, I’ll do my best for the sake of your job then,” he laughed again.

“So, I’ve got to ask. How did you end up all the way out here and injure yourself?”

“Oh, the usual. I stepped off the trail to use a bush. A few more hikers were coming down the trail, so I moved farther back. Next thing you know, I got turned around and started walking in the direction I thought was to the trail. I didn’t see the cliff and tumbled down, smashing my GPS and reorienting my ankle. I crawled over to this tree for shelter from the sun and hoped someone would find me. Guess, I was lucky,” he said, rubbing the cut on his head. “ ... that I had a guardian angel looking for me.”

“Now now, settle down there, Romeo. I think you took a bigger bump on the head than I thought,” she said laughing. “I really should clean that up, though.”

Maria pulled out the first-aid kit from her bag and took out a disinfectant and a bandage. She put on some gloves and started cleaning the wound. He winched once or twice, and Maria called him a baby. When the area was clean, she used some gauze to protect the wound from dirt getting inside. When she was done, his head was wrapped in gauze.