A father and his 12-year-old son were rescued after spending over 20 hours lost in the Red Mountain area near Snow Canyon State Park, thanks to an unexpected lifesaver—a backpack that had been abandoned by another lost hiker in January.
Julian Hernandez and his son went missing on Sunday after embarking on a hike in southern Utah. Search and rescue teams were dispatched around 7 p.m., but they struggled to find the pair in the dark, dense terrain.
A breakthrough came when a search team member discovered a bootprint near the area where the father and son had gone missing. Using this clue, rescuers followed the trail, and while they heard calls for help, the echoes in the canyon made it difficult to pinpoint their location.
As temperatures dropped, Hernandez and his son found themselves in a dire situation. Just when they were beginning to lose hope, they stumbled across a backpack that had been discarded in the same area about a month earlier by a hiker who had been lost—15-year-old Levi Dittmann. Hernandez explained, “We were climbing through some red rocks when we found the backpack, and it ended up being a lifesaver.”
Inside the backpack were emergency supplies, including blankets and food rations, which helped the pair survive the cold and continue their journey. “If we hadn’t found it, I don’t think I’d be here talking about it,” Hernandez said, grateful for the unexpected assistance.
The supplies allowed them to endure a 22-hour ordeal after what was supposed to be a four-hour hike. The backpack, which had once belonged to Levi Dittmann, was packed with the survival gear he had prepared, not knowing it would one day help someone else.
“I’m just glad it could help,” Dittmann said, reflecting on the surprising turn of events. He had left the pack behind after becoming lost on January 4, unsure if he would ever see it again.
A Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter crew, using night vision, was able to locate Hernandez and his son and lift them to safety. Dittmann’s mother, Gretchen, saw the helicopter circling from her home while rescue crews worked to find the missing hikers. Little did she know that her son’s backpack would play a crucial role in the rescue.
“I can’t believe it was his pack that helped them. I’m just so thankful,” Gretchen said. “It’s like something you can’t plan for, but it’s an amazing story of how everything fell into place.”
Both the father and son were checked by medical personnel and released on the spot. Remarkably, Levi, who had been rescued earlier that day, was also found safe and was brought down by search and rescue volunteers.
Julian Hernandez, grateful for the efforts of the search and rescue teams, shared that he and his wife are considering becoming volunteers to help others in similar situations. “We want to give back to the community, just like they did for us,” he said.
Hernandez hopes to meet Levi in person one day to express his gratitude for the backpack that made all the difference in their survival. “It’s an amazing story, a reminder that sometimes, a small act of preparation can save lives.”
Gretchen Dittmann added, “It’s a story we’ll never forget, and it’s so incredible to know that his pack helped someone else.”
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