The California hiker who was miraculously rescued 10 days after getting lost in the Santa Cruz Mountains has revealed chilling new details about his plight — including being stalked by a mountain lion and losing a staggering 30 pounds.
Lukas McClish, 34, of Boulder Creek, Calif., had set off on what was only meant to be a three-hour hike on June 11 when the experienced backpacker suddenly — and unusually — lost his sense of direction.
In a series of interviews, McClish has since revealed how he managed to survive despite battling hypothermia, having to dodge the sun due to his albinism and even having rocks lodged in his back after slipping down a ravine.
“I lost 30 pounds in 10 days,” McClish told the New York Times.
“I was kind of doing the water-diet thing,” he added. “If you drink a gallon and a half of water every day, you don’t need food until you run out of carbs.”
At one point, he noticed a mountain lion starting to track him.
“He kept his distance, he was a pretty cool lion, I guess,” McClish told the Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin.
At night, McClish recalled stuffing himself inside a hollowed-out log in a bid to stay warm.
“It was cold at night. I would usually build a lean-to and use dry duff on the bottom to stay warm,” he said. “It did not provide me with much insulation, it was cold. At some points, I went outside the log to warm up. The wet stuff just wasn’t working.”
By day, though, he had to try and stay under the tree canopies because of his albinism — a condition that makes his skin particularly susceptible to harsh sunlight.
McClish, who had done the same hike multiple times before, said he didn’t even think twice before setting off without any camping gear, his trusty pocket knife or even a cellphone.
The hiker, who had earlier revealed he used his boot to drink water from a waterfall, said he initially used the ordeal to test his survival skills and only began to fear his predicament after several days in.
He blamed recent wildfires for decimating the landmarks or trails he would usually rely on to find his way.
“That’s one thing that I didn’t take into consideration — when the fire comes through like that and decimates it, it turns into the desert, and you’re unable to find your bearings,” McClish said.
“I knew if I kept following the sun I’d get to the ocean eventually, but I didn’t know how far from the ocean I was.”
McClish’s family had reported him missing on June 16 — five days after he set off — when he failed to show up for a Father’s Day dinner.
He was found four days later after a multi-agency search was launched.
McClish, who was treated at a nearby hospital in the aftermath, suffered bad sunburn, scrapes and bruises.
He said doctors had to remove rocks from his back after falling down a rock face at one point.
“I have lived here all my life, I have hiked many treacherous trails from up north in the Sierras to down south, and I never assumed our mountains were like that,” McClish said.
“I didn’t realize they could be so harsh.”