Rescued Hiker Bob Sumrall Recalls Gila Ordeal

Like Robert and Austin Fritz, Bob Sumrall, too, went missing for days in the Gila National Forest and braved the unforgiving temperatures — and lived to tell about it.

Sumrall told ABC-7 he is an experienced hiker, as is Robert Fritz, but they both underestimated Mother Nature.

“Sun shines in this area 360 days a year. There are many days in January (when) you walk around in shorts,” said Sumrall.

The Gila National Forest is 180 miles northwest of El Paso. The vast territory includes the Gila Wilderness, the Aldo Leopold Wilderness and the Blue Range Wilderness, for a total of 3.3 million acres.

The area where Robert Fritz and his 15-year-old son, Austin, were found Tuesday is roughly 70 miles from where Sumrall was found.

More than a year after his rescue in December 2009, Sumrall still has to wear sandals because of frostbite on his feet.

“I still have black stuff on each of my big toes, which is pretty much dry gangrene,” said Sumrall.

He said a storm and poorly marked trails in the national forest proved to be too much for him during that hiking trip two autumns ago.

“When the snow comes in, the trails disappear,” Sumrall said.

While Robert and Austin Fritz were prepared for a five-day hike, Sumrall said he only had food and supplies for one day.

“After about three days without food, your body just starts to shut down,” said Sumrall, who, at 67 years old, was found with a body temperature of 81 degrees.

Besides the natural elements, there’s another factor that’s increasing the risk for hikers, Sumrall said. “What contributes a lot to this is the fact that the parks service budgets have been cut, and they don’t mark the trails the way that they used to. It makes it very difficult for people to go out, because you’re going along and there’s supposed to be a trail there, and there’s no marker and you can’t find the trail.”

But he told ABC-7 that panic never set in.

“There was never a question in my mind that I was going to get through this, so there was never a fear, there was never a panic that said, ‘Oh gee, I’m not going to make it.’ It was just a matter of when. It was just a question of when they were going to find me,” recalled Sumrall.

In addition to a positive attitude, Sumrall credited his survival to having a companion, his loyal dog Zulu, who kept him warm on those frigid nights.

“I don’t think I’d be here if she hadn’t been there,” said Sumrall.

Zulu ran away as rescuers approached Sumrall and hasn’t been found yet, but her owner says he’ll always have hope.

Now Sumrall hopes the Fritz men recover, both physically and emotionally.

“Fortunately, there’s two of them, so that does help and does make it a little bit easier because you’re able to talk about what’s going on,” said Sumrall.

He also said he wants to go for a hike when his feet get better, but this time, he said he’ll make sure his GPS is working.