Search teams find missing Phoenix hiker near Telluride trail junction

A late hike on the Woods Lake Trail turned into a cold backcountry search near one of Telluride’s most traveled high-country junctions when a Phoenix woman became separated from her son and was reported missing in the dark. Search crews found the 48-year-old at about 11,200 feet near the Woods Lake and Navajo Lake trail junction, then escorted her out before reuniting her with her son at the trailhead parking area.

San Miguel County deputies and search-and-rescue personnel responded Tuesday evening after the son said his mother was missing and was not prepared for an overnight stay in the backcountry. Crews from San Miguel County Search and Rescue and Dolores County Search and Rescue worked together for about two hours before locating her at 10:33 p.m. She was uninjured, but cold and disoriented.

The terrain around the Woods Lake Trail helps explain how quickly a day hike can go sideways. Woods Lake Trail #406 begins near Woods Lake Campground, climbs south through spruce and fir forest, and enters the Lizard Head Wilderness after about a mile. From there, it eventually crosses above tree line, intersects the Elk Creek Trail, and connects with the Navajo Lake Trail on the San Juan National Forest. Navajo Lake sits at 11,154 feet, and the trail continues upward to timberline and the Silver Peak and Navajo Basin Crest, a route popular with hikers aiming for El Diente Peak, Mount Wilson and Wilson Peak.

San Miguel County Search and Rescue covers roughly 1,200 square miles, stretching from about 5,000 feet in high desert to more than 14,000 feet in high alpine country. Sheriff Dan Covault praised the response and used the incident to reinforce a familiar backcountry rule: carry extra food, water, clothing and a reliable light source, especially when a hike reaches the point where weather, elevation and fading daylight can leave even a popular trail feeling remote. The county’s search-and-rescue nonprofit was established in 2019 to manage donations supporting that mission.

The details from this search point to the same failure point families and mixed-experience groups need to plan around: separation at a junction, then a late return into steep, unfamiliar terrain. Keep the group together when route-finding gets tricky, carry enough gear to stay out after dark, and treat any Telluride-area outing that reaches Lizard Head Wilderness or timberline as a backcountry day, not just a walk in the woods.