Missing hikers woke each other up during cold night

JEFFERSON COUNTY - A Fort Carson soldier says there were times when he didn't think he or his girlfriend would find their way out of the forest safely after they became lost for nearly three days.

Twenty-six-year-old Chadwick Knight, a soldier at Fort Carson, and his 19-year-old girlfriend, Xenia Holzknecht from Colorado Springs, got lost on Saturday but were found safe on Monday afternoon about 15 to 20 miles away from where they started their hike in the Pike National Forest.

Authorities were notified Sunday when the two did not return home Saturday night.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office says the hikers were reported missing after heading out on the Goose Creek trailhead. The trail is southwest of Deckers near Cheesman Reservoir, about 45 miles from Denver. Their vehicle was found in the parking lot, located at Jefferson County Roads 211 and 558.

They were found Monday afternoon in the town of Jefferson.

Knight says it was supposed to just be a day hike on a trail he's been on before.

"We turned the wrong way and then it got dark," Knight said later in Bailey. "Then it started snowing."

Holzknecht says the two had to work together to stay alive in the cold weather.

"I was really scared," Holzknecht said. "That night, Saturday night, when it was really freezing, like it snowed, so pretty much we kept trying to wake each other up and there were some points that I tried to sleep but then my heart stopped beating and then he would call my name and I would answer."

"I just didn't want one of us to end up dying in the cold," she said.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Jacki Kelley says the two were found after they made their way to a small store.

"They walked in and they're cold and they're tired, we're just so excited that this is the outcome that we've had," she said.

She says they apparently walked 15 to 20 miles to come out the other side of Kenosha Pass.

"They came up here got lost, and got very lost, because they are very far away," Kelley said. "Certainly they got disoriented because they did not come to where they left from. And we have trails, some of these are animal trails, some of them are hunter trails, and then there's others that are hiking trails, but they lead off into the vast, vast distance."

Kelley says there was some cold weather in the past two nights in the area, including snow showers, and the couple was only wearing light clothing, like a tank top and blue jeans.

"We've had snow showers both nights. Very, very cold conditions. This is such rough terrain. Certainly the outcome could have been something other than this, and it isn't, but they're so fortunate," she said.

Knight says his Army training helped them find their way out of the forest.

"We got out," he said.

Other than blisters and scratches, the two are OK.

Knight says he will now have to endure lots of teasing from his fellow soldiers.

"There's going to be jokes for a long time. There's going to be all kinds of jokes," he said to a fellow soldier from Fort Carson.

The search for the two expanded on Monday after it started on Sunday evening.

Jefferson County deputies asked for help from Park County Sunday evening and crews also requested a bloodhound to assist in the search.

Holzknecht's older brother, Francisco, came to the area from Colorado Springs to help in the search.

"We had friends come up here to try and look for her on Sunday and it wasn't a success," he said before they were found.

Her mother, Rita, was also in the search area.

"I'm feeling so happy. It's a big blessing right now for our family. We've been praying and hoping she'd come very fast. We are so happy, so happy. They are good," Rita Holzknecht, Xenia's mother, said. "This is a big experience for my daughter because she likes to know different things in the mountains - I'm so happy right now."

They were reunited with the two hikers on Monday afternoon in Bailey.

According to deputies, the couple has been dating for about two months. Kelley says there was no reason to believe the soldier and his girlfriend were running away. The soldier was not up for deployment and both are said to be responsible young people.

Alpine Search and Rescue had about a dozen people searching Sunday in the area but the intensive search was called off after dark.

Search and rescue teams from Summit, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties helped with the search along with two helicopters from the Civil Air Patrol and two fixed-wing planes.

Since the missing solider was connected to Fort Carson, the base also sent 100 soldiers from Fort Carson to help in the search. Those soldiers were sent home before they arrived at the search area after the hikers were found.

In total, about 160 people were actively involved in the search.