SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – A building at Gillespie Airfield is home to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office SWAT and Search & Rescue teams.
But on Thursday, it was home to a reunion between two men that was 50 years in the making.
Lou Shrinkle is visiting the Sheriff’s Office, not because he did anything wrong.
But he was there to meet Ernie Cowan, whom Lou hadn’t seen since 1974.
“I did not thank these guys enough,” Shrinkle said.
“Well, we don't, we don't do this for the thanks,” Cowan said.
The thanks are for what happened during January 1974.
“We planned a backpack trip to a place called Sheep Canyon, where I had been multiple times,” Shrinkle said.
Lou and his college buddies are set to head into the mountains in San Diego County.
“They called me up and said the weather’s going to be bad, forget it, we’re out,” Shrinkle said.
Still, Shrinkle braved the weather. He made it to the spring he set out for and set up camp.
“In the middle of the night, all heck broke loose, as you might say. The storm came in full force,” Shrinkle said.
He eventually became stranded in the storm.
Remind you, this is 1974. That means no cell phones, we are so used to having in our pockets at a moment's notice; no way to let anyone know he needed help. Lou said he was stranded in the storm for he recalled being six days. He burned pages from a book to stay warm.
“I got a mild case of frostbite. My sleeping bag froze up every night, and I would wake up and, you know, rub my feet and take care of as much as I could,” Shrinkle said.
Eventually, the storm broke, and Shrinkle started walking to find a way out.
He told ABC 10News that his friends back at school raised the alarm that he hadn’t returned from the trip.
“When the clear day came, we realized that's the opportunity for us to launch an all-out search effort,” Cowan said.
Cowan is a longtime volunteer with the Sheriff’s Office Search & Rescue team and was a reserve deputy at the time.
He jumped in the helicopter because Cowan knew the search area and had a feeling he could help.
“I pointed in the direction where I wanted to go towards the south, and we headed in that direction, and the pilot slapped me on the arm and said there's ‘help’ (written) in the snow,” Cowan said.
There was a worry they were too late.
“As we hovered down lower, we saw tracks, and we started following the tracks, and there was Lou, standing on the rock waving at us,” Cowan said.
The rescue may have been how they knew of each other. But it’s not how they met.
“When the pilot landed, I said. He said, ‘There's another guy who went to get you,’ and I said, ‘Well, let's wait for him,’ (the pilot said) ‘Well, there's only two seats,’” Shrinkle said.
Earlier, Cowan had bailed out of the chopper to open the other seat so Shrinkle could get back to safety, and waited to be picked up later.
“When they brought me back to search base as we were landing, he was driving away in a vehicle, so I never got to see him,” Cowan said.
Nearly 52 years have gone by since both men went in different directions, figuratively and literally.
Both Cowan and Shrinkle went on to get married and have families.
Cowan continues to be a member of the Search & Rescue team and served in El Cajon politics as well. Shrinkle became a physicist, business owner, and author with at least 30 patents to his name.
“I always wondered what happened to Lou, and it was pleasing for me to learn, you know, he made good,” Cowan said.
Shrinkle told ABC 10News he kept backpacking after the event and made sure everything he takes is warm and waterproof.
