Snowmobilers Stranded Overnight In Cache County Backcountry

HYRUM, Utah – Two snowmobilers said they’re lucky to be alive after getting stuck in some rough terrain.

The conditions were so difficult they had to leave their snowmobiles behind so they could hike through two feet of snow to safety. Eventually, three Cache County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers were forced to do the same.

This all happened near the Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area on the southeast end of Cache County.

There were three snowmobilers in the group, but only two of them were stranded.

They talked to KSL-TV’s Mike Anderson by phone Wednesday. They did not want to be recorded or identified and were still pretty shaken up by what happened.

They are very experienced but decided to explore a new area in a basin and realized they would not be able to drive back out.

“Somehow they ended up in a buckskin drainage area, which is not a place you want to go for snow machining,” said Lt. Doyle Peck with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s basically a chute, for lack of a better word, where the walls, as you go further down, they begin to close in until at the very bottom there is no outlet.”

The two men trudged through the deep snow and eventually found a cabin where they were able to dry off and spend the night. They said they hiked for about a mile, but it took them four to five hours to get through because of that thick cover.

One said he was sure they would have frozen to death if they had not found the cabin.

Three of the rescuers caught up with them at that same cabin and stayed overnight.

The men said they were grateful for the search and rescue crew. Another 14 rescue team members helped them pull the snowmobiles out Tuesday.

They said they were grateful to the cabin owner too. Cache County deputies said the owner was very gracious, and he told them he leaves the door unlocked just in case someone gets stranded out there and needs it.

The two men said they will never go down into unknown territory again.