Upon reflection though, I came to realize, the issues preventing me from hiking out of there were the very same set of factors that was going to make my rescue so difficult.

An automatic message appeared on my inReach’s screen, which read, “I have an emergency, and I need you to send help. My last big adventure of the 2020 season was a thru-hike of the Uinta Highline Trail (UHT) in northeastern Utah.I planned to start my thru-hike at the beginning of September when the temperature in Utah was still hovering in the mid-90s, and the state was experiencing record-breaking heat and fires. I wasn’t heading out on some grand expedition in Antarctica or on FKT attempt where people might want to track my exact route. My situation went from bad to worse, as my tent continued to repeatedly collapse in the strong winds. Plenty of my fellow hikers and backpackers will read about my near-miss and continue to assume they don’t need a GPS locator on their solo backcountry adventures. I took dozens of safety precautions on this trip, including checking the weather forecast just a matter of hours before this freak storm.

Then I pulled all the slack of the tent fabric taut and tucked under me it as tightly as possible to keep the strong wind from blowing me away. Far too often, people assume that dramatic rescues like mine are a result of recklessness or gross negligence. I am the proof to that any hiker – even a hyper-prepared one – can still find themselves in need of emergency help. His co-pilot jumped out and started wading through the knee- and thigh-deep drifts of snow toward my position in the rocks.About 15 minutes later, I could hear the hum of the rotors and see the lights on the bottom of the helicopter. Windbreaks aren't just for blocking out the wind (though as the name suggests, they're very good at it) they're also an ideal way to add a little privacy to your camping setup.

Air windbreaks are a perfect match for your air tent or air awning - in fact many air tent brands also produce windbreaks to exactly match their tent or awning. This man advocated on my behalf for over 10 hours, and he is directly responsible for saving my life.Once this rescue was over, I could have slunk off into anonymity and pretended none of this ever happened. NOTE: during a rescue you don’t move from your GPS location unless expressly directed — especially in whiteout snow conditions). And so, it was time to focus on staying dry and surviving for as long as it took to come get me out of there. Steady 20 mph winds blew the snow into my tent and the wind continued to change direction and swirl around me. Then I slid inside the tent like it was a bivy sack and used my backpack behind me as a backrest on the hill’s slope.