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Bears, bad weather and fatigue combined to delay a Sandy man who went up into American Fork Canyon for a daylong hike but ended up having to spend the night.
The Utah County Sheriff's Office search and rescue team found 28-year-old Adam Koritz around 6:30 a.m. after his parents reported that he didn't return from a hike in the canyon. After realizing that he hadn't returned around 4:30 a.m., Koritz's parents drove to American Fork Canyon and found his car parked at a trail head.
Koritz's parents called the sheriff's office around 5:30 a.m., and rescuers spotted him from an aircraft about an hour later, according to Sgt. Tom Hodgson of the search and rescue team.
Hodgson said Koritz was slightly hypothermic, somewhat dehydrated and extremely fatigued. Lone Peak EMS treated him at the scene for dehydration and released him.
"He wasn't prepared to spend the night on the mountain. He didn't have any jackets with him or anything like that, any extra provisions at all," Hodgson said. "He had no food, no water, no extra clothing, no shelter, no lights."
Koritz started up the Box Elder Trail around 8:45 a.m. on Monday.
After reaching the summit of Box Elder Peak, he headed back down but was delayed by an encounter with two bears, as well as stormy weather and fatigue.
The bears stayed at their watering hole and did not approach or threaten Koritz, Hodgson said, but he decided to find a way around them.
"They weren't aggressive in nature," Hodgson said.
• Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or
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