California hiker missing for 10 days survived on wild berries and water stored in boots

Lucas McClish, a California hiker who went missing on June 11, was found by a rescue team in the mountains after 10 days, the Santa Cruz County’s Office said.

McClish embarked on his brief three-hour hike into the mountains but somehow failed to navigate the route when he could not find the familiar landmarks due to previous wildfires in the area.

His family filed a missing report on June 16 when he did not show up for a Father's Day gathering.

This triggered a search effort that went on for several days before McClish was finally tracked.

“Deputies responded with State Parks, Cal Fire and Boulder Creek Fire Department and were able to confirm it was Lukas McClish, who had been missing since Tuesday, June 11,” the County office wrote on social media in a posting.

The Cal Fire, who helped the officials of Santa Cruz County, in a post on the official X account said, “multiple reports of witnesses hearing someone yelling for help, but the location of that person was hard to establish”.

McClish survived on water alone

McClish in an interview with ABC 7 revealed that he drank almost a gallon of water every day to survive.

“I just made sure I drank a gallon of water every day, but then after, getting close to the end of it, my body needed food and some kind of sustenance,” he said.

He said that used to store water in his boots to keep himself hydrated.

"I go up a canyon, down a canyon to the next waterfall and sit down by the waterfall and drink water out of my boot,” KSBW quoted him as saying.

As per the local media reports, he ate wild berries and slept on wet leaves while screaming for help.

"‘Help, help. I’m over here, Or ‘Is anybody out there? I want a burrito and a taco bowl,’ that’s what I thought about every day when after the first five days, when I started to kind of realize that I might be in over my head,” New York Post quoted him as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)