By Ryker Conk
It was the afternoon of September 19, 2020, when my dad, Brian Conk, got a text, “We have a Call Out for a missing 10-year-old boy. He has been missing for four hours from Swan Flat area. Family was camped in Cache. Please respond to the State Rd Sheds on 89 for the Rally Point, Bring ATV’s and all applicable gear.”
We did not think much of it because we have gotten these
types of texts before, but every time we got things together and were about to
leave, we'd get a text saying the search is off. By the time we got home I had
texted my uncle Jacob Lamb, to go fly fishing up Logan canyon. He picked me up
at my house and we took off for the mountains. We were almost to the top of the
canyon when my dad called to say the boy had still not been found, and that he
needed Jake's and my help. My dad got everything we needed together within a
matter of minutes, we have everything together because of all the hunting trips
that we have been on. My dad grabbed me hiking boots, one hoodie, one zip up
camo jacket, my binos, and my backpack. When my dad got to the look out of the
canyon we stopped by the sheriff’s car so he could give us the coordinates and
a radio so we could communicate. The sheriff was nervous to send people out
because it was pouring rain and super windy, it had been raining almost the
whole day.
Jake punched the coordinates in his phone and off we went.
His phone took us to a two track the ended up as a dead end. We parked our
truck there and got everything on that we needed. I strapped on my backpack and
off we went, hiking into wet, cold, and thick woods. I probably got 20 yards before
I was completely drenched, my coat was soaking wet and my sweatpants were
soaking wet as well. I could already feel the water in my boots. Before we
dropped off of the mountain to start looking we met up with a guy on a
four-wheeler who informed us of his name and that he had heard the boy yelling
before it started to rain again and the helicopters flew over him. With that
information my dad told me to go lower and work my way across the mountain. My dad would go straight and my uncle would
go up and to the left and we would meet at the bottom of the valley.
I dropped off and went to the right covering ground as fast
as a I could while yelling his name. I walked for probably ten minutes before I
heard something, it sounded like the boy, but I could not make out what he was
saying. Hearing him made me walk even faster covering more ground. Going
through this terrain was some of the most challenging thing I have ever done;
keep in mind I have been hunting since I could walk, so I have seen some bad
terrain. It was basically straight down, and it was super wet, so I was
slipping and sliding everywhere. I stopped counting how many times I had fallen.
There was one time where I slipped right into a dead tree knocking It down. I
finally got to a little opening on the side of the mountain where I could see,
I could not see much but at least I could see something.
I yelled his name, I got a clear response saying, “what”. I then yelled at my dad telling him I could hear the boy. When I was looking across the valley to the other side, I spotted something red. I then yelled at him to move a bit; that is when I confirmed I had actually seen the boy.
I yelled saying, “stay where you are at, I see you and I
will be to you shortly.” I then hiked straight down falling even more, every
time I fell, I got back up faster. I got to the bottom when I looked straight
up, there was a 10 foot cliff that I had to climb, but once I climbed it I knew
that I was going to be super close to him. Very carefully I scaled my way up
this cliff, grabbing anything possible, twigs, grass, and sticking my hands in
little cracks so that I could pull myself up. When I got to the top, I saw that
he was on the other ridge, there had been a ridge in between me and him that I
could not see.
I then leaped my way down as fast as I could and as safe as
I could. When I got to the bottom it cleared up a little and I was able to walk
faster, when I got to the edge of the ridge that he was on I hiked straight up
because I knew he was right above me. I spotted him just where I told him to
stay. I walked up to him and asked if he was hurt. His response was no, except that he had a
couple of little scratches on his ankle because he was wearing shorts.
I could tell he was
cold, so I told him to take of his drenched shirt and jacket. Once he took
those off, I gave him my black hoodie out of my bag and my camo zip up jacket,
within 5 minutes he told me that he was warming up. We are waiting there hoping
that my dad and my uncle could make it over to us, but they could not because
it was so thick and steep. My dad made me tell him the boys name to confirm I
had found him. It was confirmed and a
point on the mountain because he had called life flight to come find us because
it was pitch black. I had my head lamp so that we could see. In this time of
not knowing what to do I had made a connection with this boy and had made a new
friend.
The sheriff called me and asked if I could see the ATV’s
lights beneath us down the hill. I could see the lights, but they were two to
three miles away, and they could not get to us. The sheriff told the DNR
officer to head more north on the trail to see if he could get closer to us.
While I was on the phone with the sheriff, he told me to
head north east and we should end up on a two track, so that is what we did.
About ten yards is all we got before it started to drop straight down, and it
was pure trees. We then went back to the highest point and were told to head
north west. The sheriff said we need to go through trees to where it will open
and then need to head straight north. That is exactly what we did, I was
starting to get a little nervous because it felt like we were making no
progress.
We went up hills and down hills until eventually it opened
even more into just sagebrush. I told him we were in luck because now we could
see more, and that I could see the lights of this ATV and we were super close.
I took one more step north and stepped right onto the road that I was told
about. I called my dad saying we found the road and he needed to tell the DNR
to head up the two track to find us.
That is exactly what happened, we got to the Razor and we
packed up our stuff and headed down the mountain to safety and warmth.
I will never forget how my fly-fishing trip turned into
saving a 10-year-old boys life. I am very grateful for the opportunity to help
him and his family. I made a friend that night and I will always hold this
story close to heart.
2 comments:
Good job Ryker! There is nothing like the feeling of success when you are trying to help others. We are proud of you!
What a scary thing that was for a 10 year old boy! You are his hero, for sure! Well done, Ryker, and a well-written account of it all.
Post a Comment