Getting that close is damned impressive. Hiking in and around Leadville itself can wreck a person.
A different perspective wouldn’t make it a lie. The SAR people just have a different perspective on the incident. One of their perspectives, to be sure, is to make sure their calls are never ignored. So this narrative is, in its way, good for them.
Hiker guy might indeed say “yeah, I ignored all calls and texts because I didn’t care. Fuck those SAR people.” Or he may say “my battery was dead,” or “my phone was wrapped in a watertight container and turned off, because I was completely unconcerned. I told the hotel I might be out late.”
I go on short and long, long hikes into terrain where there are few or no humans, and I do it frequently. My phone is off, and buried in my pack. If I tell my family “back in 1-2 days,” I wouldn’t expect them to raise a fuss until day 3. I wouldn’t expect a hotel to raise a fuss at all.
Who knows?
