Backpacker tells of harrowing rescue from Cameron Peak Fire – Coloradoan

A Loveland man was trapped by the roaring fire in the Roosevelt National Forest until a helicopter whisked him away to safety. Fort Collins Coloradoan

Colton McDonald will be hard pressed to top his 30th birthday.

That's because it involved his first helicopter ride, being trapped in the Cameron Peak Fire and receiving a warm hug from his father when he returned to his Loveland home.

I was elated that I was out of there, for sure,'' McDonald said Thursday from his home. "But on the way home driving down the (Poudre) Canyon, I was processing the whole experience. I had set out to reconnect with nature. I had set out to catch a bunch of fish and have an adventure. And at the end I accomplished all that stuff.

Barely.

McDonald was the sole recreationist rescued via helicopter from the Cameron Peak Fire and is believed to be the last person in the fire that is raging in the Roosevelt National Forest west of Fort Collins.

He set out on a 10-day solo backpacking trip into the ruggedly beautiful Rawah Wilderness on Aug. 13, the day the fire started. He parked his vehicle at the Blue Lake Trailhead offColorado Highway 14 around sunrise and reached Blue Lake about noon.

He left the lake and was nearBlue Lake Pass around 1 p.m when he saidhe "distinctly heard a gunshot discharge.'' He said about a half hour later, he saw smoke from the area where the fire is believed to have started. He had not seen smoke before that time.

I initially thought the smoke was from another camper with a campfire,'' he said. "Then a half-hour later, that smoke got pretty significant and then I knew it wasnt just a campfire, that it was awildfire.

More: Cameron Peak Fire grows to nearly 16,500 acres; additional resources requested

Despite the fire, hecontinued heading north as planned, skirting the east face of the Medicine Bow Range to avoid the worst of the fire smoke,traveling about five or six miles a day, fishing lakes and camping. He said he had no idea how large the fire had gotten because he could only see one large plume of smoke.

Then the wildlife tipped him off.

After the first couple of days, I noticed an odd amount of deer, moose, bighorn sheep and lot ofbirds kind of following me,'' he said. "And so I kind of knew I was in the right area because all of the wildlife was fleeing to where I was, and wildlife knows where to go when there is a fire.''

"It was definitely on the back of my mind the whole time that it was probably developing, but I didn'texpect it to move as fast as it did, as wide as it did.''

On his fifth day, he figured his last camp was about 15 miles north of the fire. He thought if the fire made the Blue Lake Trail impassable that he would hike out the West Branch Trail to the Laramie River Road.

More: Wildfire map: Track smoke, fire from Cameron Peak Fire

At Blue Lake Pass, he was able to see he was in trouble the West Branch and Blue Lake trails wereboth blocked by fire.

"I could see flames coming from the trees, so I sat there thinking about my options,'' he said. "I had enough supplies to last another week or two, but I figuredthe fire was only going to get worse and that I was pretty much trapped.''

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So he reached for his Garmin Tracker GPS device, which he only started packing in December, and pushed the SOS button. An emergency team responded, and he explained his situation.

That definitely helped quench my fears,'' he said. "I was certainly a little anxious about the situation. But they had it under control and I knew I was in a good spot for the helicopter to land in an open field.''

He said on the second day of his trip, a helicopter flew over him at Island Lake, around 11,000 feet, likely searching for him after crews spotted his vehicle at the Blue Lake Trailheadparking lot.

"Im up there and this helicopter comes closer than Ive ever had a helicopter come to me,'' said McDonald, who saw planes and helicopters fighting the blaze almost daily."They do a couple of passes and Im like, 'I think they are checking me out.' The guy in the helicopter waves and I wave back. That was the only person I saw fromthen until they came and picked me up.

More: Fire investigators seek info on vehicle seen near small fire Friday near Cameron Peak Fire

But on Tuesday, the helicopter didn't fly away. It circled a couple of times before landing in anearby clearing.

They outfitted him with a helmet, ear plugs and maskand whisked him back to Colorado 14, where they landed so he could retrieve his vehicle, which had been towed a mile away because of the fire.

"I had never been in ahelicopter before, so it was pretty wild,'' he said. "The perspective of the fire up in the helicopter was incredible. It was both really terrifying and beautiful at the same time.''

He received an escort through the section of Colorado 14 that was blocked off because of the fire then made his way home where his father, CharlesMcDonald, was waiting.

"There was a big hug and then the humor kicks in,'' said Charles, who credited his son's Garmin Tracker for saving his life."I had confidence in Colton's skills and that he knew what he was doing. But it was a hell of a birthday present to have a helicopter bring him home.

Colton McDonald, who has lived in Lovelandfor three years and is a Colorado State University graduate,is an avid outdoorsman and has summited a dozen of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks. He said despite his recent anxious moments that he has plans to hike the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Canada someday.

"I could tell that my situation could be dangerous,'' said Colton McDonald, who works as atattoo artist and at Biochar Now in Berthoud. "At the same time, it is so freeing and sobeautiful just being in tune withthe natural system. A lot of people never experience that feeling. But there is a lot in those experiences.''

Reporter Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at milesblumhardt@coloradoan.com or on Twitter @MilesBlumhardt. Support his work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

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Backpacker tells of harrowing rescue from Cameron Peak Fire - Coloradoan