Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.   In midsummer, when it is in the 90s on the flatlands, people migrate to the mountains to cool off, to hike and camp, seeking relief from down below heat. Mountains are fun and dangerous and can often exacerbate health problems.

Boulder County Sheriff’s deputies responded to several rescue calls and a recovery call over the weekend.

On Saturday, around 2:30 p.m. the BCSO received a 911 call reporting that a 19-year-old man had been struck by lightning while camping in Ruby Gulch.

He and his girlfriend had been standing next to their tent when a lightning bolt hit him. The woman began CPR and called for help. She helped the man into their vehicle and transported him to the Peak to Peak Highway at the intersection of the Forest Service Road 328 where they met with Nederland Fire and Indian Peaks Fire Protection District, who treated the patient until AMR Ambulance arrived. He was taken to Boulder Community Hospital, conscious and breathing.

Colorado is the third deadliest state for lightning strikes according to the National Weather Service.

In 2016, 38 people were killed in the United States, 18 in Colorado behind Texas and Florida. El Paso County had the largest number of people being hit by lightning, with Boulder County coming in fourth place. With timely medical treatment, 90 percent of lightning victims survive, the weather service said. People who have been struck by lightning do not carry a charge, and it is safe to touch them and provide medical treatment.

Call 911 and start mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, the weather service said. If the victim has no pulse, begin cardiac compressions.

Also on Saturday, around 1:30 p.m., a 911 call came in from the Pawnee Campground in the Brainard Lake Recreational Area from the camp host who said she a received a call about a man who had fallen and died from his injuries during the fall. A 31-year-old Denver man died after falling to the base of Navajo Peak in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. According to the sheriff’s report, the man and his girlfriend were on a day hike when he slipped off a boulder and fell 20-30 feet, hitting his head several times during the fall before landing in a rocky crevasse.

The Denver man’s girlfriend was a medical doctor. When she climbed down to him he had no pulse and could not be resuscitated. There was no cell phone service in the area and the woman hiked about five miles back to Brainard Lake to call for help, about a two-hour trek. BC Sheriff’s Officers, medical investigators from the BC Coroner’s Office, and Rocky Mountain Rescue Group personnel decided that it was too dangerous to recover the man’s body at that late hour and the recovery took place on Sunday.

The coroner’s office will determine the cause and manner of the man’s death and identification will be revealed when it has been confirmed with the family. No foul play is suspected.

On Sunday, July 8, around 1 p.m. the BCSO, Allenspark Fire and Estes Park Ambulance responded to a report of an unresponsive person near Camp Dick, off the Peak to Peak Hwy. A 62-year old man was found alone and unresponsive by hikers 10 minutes up the Middle St. Vrain Trail. Life-saving efforts were administered without success. Rocky Mountain Rescue completed the recovery of the body.

The preliminary investigation indicates that the man died of medical related issues, with no indications of foul play. BC Coroner’s Office will release the name of the man once they have confirmed that all family members have been notified of his death.

(Originally published in the July 12, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)