Two snowmobilers in Cache County say they're lucky to be alive after being stuck overnight in the backcountry. (PHOTO: KSL-TV)
CACHE COUNTY, Utah — Two snowmobilers in Cache County lived to tell the tale of their adventure after a wrong turn left them stuck overnight in the backcountry.
The stranded riders were originally part of a group of three, before losing one member of the group.
The incident happened earlier this week near the Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area on the southeast end of Cache County.
The individuals tell KSL-TV they are veteran riders, but decided to explore a new area in a basin. Upon entering the basin, they realized they could not drive back out.
“Somehow they ended up in a buckskin drainage area, which is not a place you want to go for snow machining,” said Lieutenant Doyle Peck with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s basically a chute, for lack of a better word, where the walls, as you go further down, they begin to close in until at the very bottom there is no outlet.”
Lieutenant Peck says the two men trudged through deep snow for about a mile until they found a cabin where they were able to dry off and spend the night. Despite the hike only being roughly a mile, it reportedly took the two men four or five hours due to the thick cover.
According to KSL-TV, one rider believes they would have frozen to death had they not discovered the cabin.
Eventually, three Cache County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers also had to leave their snowmobiles behind.
Those three rescuers later caught up with the two men at the same cabin and stayed overnight.
A 14-member rescue crew was out later to help pull the snowmobiles.
Cache County deputies say the owner of the cabin leaves his door unlocked just in case someone becomes stranded and needs help.