Miracle on the Mountain

The campsite was just a couple of miles from the trailhead where he had parked his Jeep. He finally knew the way out.

"We'll see what we can do," the ticket agent told the Gatelys.

Throughout the night, Jean had clutched a medallion engraved with the word "Believe." But she was struggling to hold onto hope.

"We're not going to get on this flight," Jean whispered to Jim.

Ten minutes later, a voice over the intercom echoed, "Would Jim and Jean Gately please come to the ticket counter?"

The agent handed the Gatelys boarding passes for the 6:30 flight.

Onboard, Jean sat next to a man from Australia. She told him Jacob's story, and he shared his own tale of being lost in the Australian outback for two weeks with no water, in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees.

"He's going to be fine," the man reassured Jean.

Jean wanted to believe him. Are you my guardian angel? she wondered.

In Denver, the Gatelys rented an SUV and began the trek to Mount of the Holy Cross.

On their way, Jim and Jean stopped at a McDonald's. Jim was getting shaky from lack of sleep and needed a break. They called the sheriff's office for an update. There was no news. A deputy told them that because Jacob's next of kin had been notified, his name would be released to the press. The comment worried Jim and Jean. They feared that the authorities were withholding information from them; they worried that officials were waiting to tell them in person that Jacob had been found frozen to death on the mountain.

At 6 a.m. Monday, Tim Cochrane took over the search operation. Cochrane had 30 years of experience leading searches for the Vail Mountain Rescue Group. Cochrane had put out a call for more volunteers. Searchers from Grand Junction and a dog team from Fort Collins answered the call. A National Guard helicopter stood ready.

But a heavy fog covered the mountain. It prevented Cochrane from sending the helicopter or the dog team. It would take the volunteers two and a half hours on foot to reach the fire pit that the searchers had found the night before. If he waited for the fog to clear, the same trip would take 12 minutes. Cochrane knew that Jim and Jean Gately were on their way. He didn't want to have to tell them that they weren't looking for their son. So Cochrane sent two volunteers on foot to the pass to watch for Jacob. He sent two more volunteers up the seven-mile trail.

The fog lifted at 10:02 a.m. Cochrane sent the helicopter with a dog and six searchers to case the area around the fire pit.

Jim and Jean arrived at the sheriff's office in Vail at about 10:30 a.m. Once they saw Josh waiting outside for them, their fears were lifted.

Jean rushed to Josh, hugged him and cried.

No matter how hard she held on to the "Believe" medallion, seeing the mountain sapped Jean's hopes. She felt angry at the mountain, as if it had stolen her son. Anger led to prayer. She asked Jesus to walk with her sons.

Jacob hiked for 45 minutes down the trail toward his Jeep. He wore his fleece, his rain jacket and his iced-over tennis shoes. His thermal shirt covered his legs.

At about noon, Jacob stumbled down a hill to the access road to the trailhead where he had parked. He had another problem: He didn't have the keys for his Jeep.

Jacob saw a couple of guys loading their packs into a car. He thought they were hikers leaving after a morning hike.

"Help!" Jacob yelled and collapsed to his knees, overcome with joy.

The men were volunteers with the Vail Mountain Rescue Group. They were suiting up for the day's rescue mission and watching for Jacob in the parking area near his Jeep. When they saw Jacob, they rushed to him.

"Did you guys find my brother?" Jacob asked. "Is he all right?"

Your brother is fine, the rescue workers told him.

"I'm going to lose my feet," Jacob said.

The searchers — trail guides from the Beaver Creek ski area — went into rescue mode. They gave Jacob warm clothes, food and water, and loaded him into a Subaru. Jacob rode in front, with his feet up on the dashboard heater.

The volunteers called Cochrane. "We found Jacob."

"What do you mean?" Cochrane asked.

"We've got him."

Cochrane and a sheriff's deputy jumped in a patrol car and raced away.

About two-thirds of the way up the mountain, they met the Subaru.