Elderly Kamas hiker recovering after mountain rescue

An injured, elderly hiker was likely running out of time when search and rescue crews finally located him late Sunday, after he had been stranded nearly three days in the remote Wasatch County mountains southeast of Kamas.

Russell Carson, 76, of Kamas, was recovering Monday at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, where he had been airlifted after being found in the dense woods of the Iron Mine area just before 5 p.m. Sunday.

Sheriff's Lt. Jeff M. Winterton said Carson was found about a mile uphill from where searchers had earlier found his car. He had been missing since Friday, when he left to take a hike.

Friends reported him overdue, and a subsequent weekend-long search ensued, involving a Life Flight helicopter and search and rescue crews from both Wasatch and neighboring Summit counties as well as the U.S. Forest Service.

"If it were not for Life Flight locating the victim, it is believed he would not have survived another night on the mountain, where temperatures drop into the 30s [overnight]," Winterton said.

Carson had taken a tumble while climbing the trail up the rugged terrain on Friday and was unable to hike back out.

While reportedly disoriented and suffering from two nights of exposure, Carson's unspecified injuries were not life-threatening, and he was expected to recover.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims