He's lucky to be alive! What a fool. When found by rescuers, he was severely dehydrated and had hypothermia. His kidneys and feet are permanently damaged. He wore sandals. When he saw snow on the trail, why didn't he turn back?

The test of my day pack: "Can I survive if I get lost or injured?" I am always prepared.

An a "experienced outdoorsman," Harry Burleigh, 69 went into detail about how he found a hike that was meant to be an “in and out,” but turned into an ordeal that he didn’t prepare for.

“I dropped all of my protocols that I would normally follow,” he said. “I didn’t implement the seven P’s: Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance.”

Burleigh emphasized how leaving extra supplies behind, even a water bottle, made the situation even more challenging. No hat, map, headlamp, fire starter, water purifying tablets, food or water.

“It sounds funny, but it’s so true. You gotta take those kind of considerations when going out in Nature,” he said. “And if you’re not prepared for it, she’ll hammer you.”

He took a wrong turn; the trail was full of snow. Wore sandals. No map. He bushwhacked downhill to find the lake. It wasn't there. He was in a deep valley with heavy tree cover.

It was snowing. He slipped, hit his head and hurt his ankle. Slept under a fallen tree. With no water bottle, purifying tablets, hat, food or water. He lapped from muddy puddles and ate grubs floating in puddles. Got weaker each day.

Severely dehydrated with hypothermia, he hallucinated a beautiful waterfall up on a ridge. With frostbitten feet, he hobbled and crawled up to a ridge. No waterfall. Again, he lapped from a muddy puddle and ate grubs. Could not start a fire.

More than two hundred volunteers assisted in the search for Burleigh in the Calf Creek area, ranging from trained mountain rescue and ground searchers, K-9s to eyes in the sky via both plane and helicopter.

Eventually searchers located a makeshift shelter and a fishing tackle box they identified as belonging to Burleigh. They left Burleigh some supplies, a lighter, asked Burleigh to start a fire, and left a note that said “we will be back tomorrow to get you.”

[msn.com]