Returning from a trip to the summit of San Gorgonio Mountain in California, Peggy Faulk fell behind a faster-moving hiking companion on Sunday afternoon.
Then the 64-year-old investment banker from Irvine veered off the rocky trail and lost her phone, she told KNBC.
When Faulk failed to make it back, her companion called authorities, who began a three-day search for her involving more than 100 people, the Yucaipa Police Department reported.
“Just staying calm and trying to think through it,” Faulk told KNBC, describing the difficult terrain and extreme heat. She ran out of food and water Monday. “I was hallucinating big time.”
Searchers found Faulk, who was otherwise uninjured, on Tuesday, Yucaipa police said.
Rescue teams from San Bernardino. Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties participated in the search, police said.
“There are no words to express how much gratitude I have for these people,” Alexandra Faulk, Peggy Faulk’s daughter, told KNBC.
Temperatures in the San Gorgonio Wilderness reached up to 104 degrees while Faulk was lost, according to Weather.com.
The 96,595-acre wilderness area is part of the San Bernardino National Forest east of the city of San Bernardino in Southern California.