A Sacramento man had to spend the night in the great outdoors after becoming lost during a hike in the foothills near the American River.
Authorities received a cell phone call at 7:50 p.m. Wednesday from D.L. Shields, 45, who had become lost after getting separated from his friend, with whom he was hiking earlier, said El Dorado County sheriff's Sgt. Bryan Golmitz.
The two men were hiking near the confluence of the American River, near where El Dorado and Placer counties join between Auburn and Cool, he said.
Placer County sheriff's deputies located the man at 8 p.m. using the department's helicopter but abandoned the rescue mission because of encroaching darkness and low power lines in the area, Golmitz said.
Shields had been speaking to authorities via cell phone, who were giving directions to get out. But Shields, who has Parkinsons disease, said he was fatigued and could travel no farther.
Authorities then lost the cell phone connection.
Search-and-rescue teams were called in and searched for Shields until about midnight. The other hiker also spent the night searching for his friend, Golmitz said.
Shields had enough provisions to tide him over until morning.
"He had doughnuts with him," Golmitz said.
Placer and El Dorado county sheriff's search-and-rescue teams were looking for Shields this morning when a California Highway Patrol helicopter crew spotted the man.
Rescuers found Shields at 8:10 a.m. on the south side of the American River, west of the confluence, Golmitz said.
Shields was in an area of steep, rugged terrain and was holding onto a tree, Golmitz said. He was flown to Sutter Roseville Medical Center for medical treatment.
His friend was treated for scrapes.
Call The Bee's Niesha Lofing, (916) 321-1270.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.