Ultra-Marathoner Rescues Injured Hiker

Jeremy Humphrey put his back-country running skills to good use when he heard a hiker was missing along Idaho's Peril Lake Trail. KTVB's Gretchen Parsons reports.

(KTVB/NBC News) — An ultra-marathon runner recently put his skills to the test by rescuing an injured hiker stranded in the Idaho wilderness.

The hiker, a 43-year-old woman identified by authorities only as “Laura,” was missing for nearly a week.

Her car was found at Peril Lake Trail Head in Valley County.

Jeremy Humphrey says he’s familiar with the area and felt called to help.

“I just felt like a spark,” Humphrey says. “I knew I had to get out of bed, throw some stuff in the pack and run. My father passed in the mountains. My entire life is intertwined in mountains.”

Humphrey believed he could provide a fresh pair of eyes and legs to the search.

“I thought I had something to offer because I can move quickly in weird, bad terrain,” Humphrey says. “It was looking like it was going to be a 40-mile day if I did it right. I got to that Brush Lake area and walked around and didn’t see anything.”

Humphrey said he climbed to a higher peak, called out to Laura and she answered.

“She was just settled into this little depression in the topography,” Humphrey says. “If you weren’t above, you would never see it.”

When Humphrey got to the woman, he said she was in rough shape.

“There was a little marshy lake, so she had water but no food for four plus days,” Humphrey says. “So, it was time. It was getting serious.”

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