POST FALLS, ID. -- It was supposed to be a joyride. But for Kent Giese, it turned out to be 17-hour ordeal, as he sat stuck in his pickup waiting for help to arrive.
Giese says the bottom line when you're in the forest, be prepared for anything.
"I never should have been there," says Giese. "I was ill-equipped. Just never should've been there."
Sunday afternoon, Giese went for a drive in the mountains near Wolf Lodge Creek. With one wrong turn, and he was lost and high-centered in the snow.
"I got stuck and then I got unstuck. And I got stuck, then I got unstuck. Then I got stuck and ran out of fuel," says Giese.
It was late in the afternoon. His cell service was spotty at best. Then around 7, his son called. Giese explained the situation before the service dropped again. But the phone provider, Verizon, was able to get a ping off that call. And at the same time, Kootenai County Search and Rescue were nearby.
Meanwhile, Giese struggled through the night, sleeping barefoot in his cab, hallucinating and battling hypothermia.
"There was a few minutes where I wasn't sure. Don't think I'd have made it a second night," says Giese.
By morning, the ping was traced to Giese's location. He credits Kootenai County Search and Rescue, crews from Fairchild Air Force Base, his friends and Verizon for saving his life.
