Teen rescued near base of Sopris

CARBONDALE — Emergency crews evacuated a severely ill 16-year-old hiker from the base of Mount Sopris early Tuesday morning.

The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the father of the Glenwood Springs teen who’d planned to hike Mount Sopris with two friends.

But when the boy was weakened by intestinal problems in the early morning, the trio scrapped their summit attempt and started to walk out from their Thomas Lakes campsite, according to Sheriff’s Deputy Adam Crider.

“He just couldn’t walk any farther,” Crider said.

The three boys called for help and nine members of Mountain Rescue Aspen, as well as two Basalt firefighters, responded.

Rescuers evacuated the boy on the back of an all-terrain-vehicle from an area near the Hay Park turnoff — a trail junction near the base of Sopris — and the boy’s father took the teenager to a local doctor, Crider said.