Backpackers Rescued After Getting Lost In Dominguez Canyon

MESA COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- Crews rescued a group of backpackers after they ran out of water and got lost in the Dominguez Canyon. The four men were on a 40-mile loop when they had to call for help on Sunday morning.

The group, all men in their 50s, were using maps and plans for the hiking and camping trip in Dominguez Canyon. The Dominguez Canyon Wilderness is on Bureau of Land Management property located southeast of Grand Junction in western Colorado.

They quickly realized all the water sources listed on the maps were dry and they had been without water since Saturday afternoon.

They also had been on a trail that rimmed out and they were surrounded by deep canyons. All the hikers are from the Front Range and unfamiliar with the area.

The Mesa County Sheriff's Office teamed up with Mesa County Search and Rescue to find the hikers. They used ATVs that brought them within two miles of the hikers and then hiked the rest of the way in.

Crews found the hikers, brought them water and then helped them hike out to the waiting ATVs. The rescue mission lasted nearly 10 hours.