LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities say a hiker who went missing in the mountains north of Los Angeles survived by wrapping himself with a jacket and towel and staying by warm rocks for heat.
Janet Henderson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue told KCBS-TV that Eugene Jo stayed alive for a week by getting close to the hot rocks at night and drinking water from a riverbed.
She says the 73-year-old heard rescuers’ voices on Saturday and yelled for help.
He was taken to a hospital and later released.
Jo’s daughter says the family can barely comprehend the extent of the miracle.
Jo went hiking with a group to the 8,000-foot (2,438-meter) summit of Mount Waterman on June 22 when he became separated from them.
