BOULDER, Garfield County — A 12-year-old boy lost for about 24 hours in Garfield County was spotted by a rescue helicopter Tuesday about noon.
Raphael Scott was said to be in excellent condition after spending the night in the outdoors, where temperatures went below 20 degrees Monday night.
He survived wearing a moderately warm jacket, light cotton pants and open-toed hiking sandals.
Scott was last seen Monday while hiking near the King Bench Cattle Trail, about 8 miles from Boulder. He had been hiking with an adult family friend and they became separated, according to a news release from the Garfield County Sheriff's Office.
Search teams from Garfield County began their search, which included helicopters and search dogs, Monday at 8 p.m.
Tuesday about 11:30 a.m., Scott was spotted. He said he had fallen asleep and was awakened about 3 a.m. by the helicopter flying overhead.
He tried to flag down the chopper and a search plane, but had no luck. So he continued hiking by following a canyon known to locals as The Gulch.
He followed The Gulch upstream, where he met up with search and rescue personnel, the release states.
Scott had recently taken a wilderness survival class in Boulder and was familiar with the outdoors, the release states. He used his training to curl up next to a tree.