Missing Hiker Gab Song Now Recovering With Family By His Side
FRAZIER PARK (CBSLA) — Just days after dozens of search and rescue units scoured the Los Padres National Forest for missing hiker Gab Song, he is now recovering safely, surrounded by many of the same people who joined search efforts on Feb. 16 and 17.
Song, 73, went missing on Tuesday morning, when he left the house for a solo-hike up Mount Pinos, located near the Tejon Pass.
Little did he know that an uncharacteristic Southern California snowstorm was headed for the same area. Armed with just a backpack and a compass, Song kept trudging forward through the snow and fog.
He spent two nights alone in the wilderness, and thanks to his experienced hiking history, he was able to use that prior knowledge to survive.
Song's daughter, Jerrie, told CBS reporters just how her father was able to make it so long, "He used a lighter at night so he could create a fire with some wood, and for flammable material he used his bandanna the first night and a sweat towel the second night."
This was Song's first time hiking on the Mount Pinos Trail, a challenge complicated by the fact that, "the entire trail was covered with snow, and there was fog too." she continued. "So it was very hard for him to even see where the trail was."
Since he had only planned for an hours-long hike, Song wasn't equipped with enough food for even a full meal. Jerrie noted his resourcefulness, detailing how, "after he finished all of his snacks that first day he just ate snow drank snow when he was thirsty."
Using his compass, Song simply continued trekking east until he found a road on Thursday morning.
"He just kept going east knowing at some point he would reach civilization where someone could help him," Jerrie said.
He only had to walk for another 30 minutes once he reached the road, before he finally saw a car driving along the road, and when he put his arms up in an "X" to stop the vehicle they already knew who he was.
The private citizen took Song to their farm where they called the Sheriff's Department, but not before brewing some tea and making sure he was okay.
Sheriff's deputies called Song's family immediately, to which they were met with overwhelming joy, "when they said— 'he's ok!' It's just weak and dehydrated, it was immediately waterfall," Jerrie detailed, "Tears and tears I couldn't believe it."
The family still can't believe that he was able to survive through below-freezing temperatures for multiple nights.
"I'm so so happy and grateful and relieved that it ended the way that it did," Song's daughter concluded.
Song said it perfectly when he was reunited with his family Thursday: "I'm (a) strong man!"
