Five days in the wilderness

Man rescues injured dog stranded on ledge above South Fork

An eight-year run of hiking and hunting together nearly came to an end last week for Steve Glutting and his English setter, Mollie.

But dedicated persistence and intuition on Glutting's part paid off for Mollie. Glutting saved her after five days of being stranded with a broken leg in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

After camping at the Black Bear Cabin in the wilderness for several days, Glutting, Mollie, five other people and two other dogs left on Aug. 8 for the return hike along the South Fork Flathead River to the trailhead north of Spotted Bear.

She's a lead dog. She always wants to be in the lead, so she was up ahead with the kids, said Glutting, a fisheries conservation specialist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

The group passed Mid Creek and approached an area where the river funnels into the canyon-like Meadow Creek Gorge.

The trail is very narrow and just on your left is where the cliff is, Glutting said. That's a tight trail. You don't want to mess up there.

At about 4 p.m., Mollie disappeared.

I was whistling for her and she wasn't coming and that was kind of odd, Glutting said. I went back to Mid Creek twice and couldn't find her.

After a long search, the group decided to hike out to the trailhead.

By that time we were just exhausted, Glutting said. We were carrying heavy backpacks and we didn't have enough food to stay another night.

Glutting left his hat and Mollie's leash at the trailhead to give her a sign that he would be back if she came out. He notified Spotted Bear District Ranger Deb Mucklow and outfitters at the Wilderness Lodge about his lost dog.

They were all keeping an eye out for Mollie, Glutting said.

After returning home to the Flathead, Glutting made the long and winding drive back along Hungry Horse Reservoir the next morning with his nephew, Nick Listello. Carrying day packs, the two hiked back to the Black Bear Cabin, looking for Mollie along the way. An outfitter who was at the cabin let them stay another night.

The two hiked out the next day, but this time the gorge caught Glutting's attention.

I told my nephew, Nick, that I had to go down there, Glutting said. We found a way to scramble down, and it's not that easy.

It was at the bottom of the gorge, near the river, where Glutting found Mollie's backpack and some dog prints in the sand.

But there was no sign of her, he said. We walked the river back and forth and we couldn't see her.

At one point, Glutting climbed up to a small outcropping along the steep rocky slope above the river. Again, no Mollie.

Frustrated and depressed, Glutting decided to hike out again for the long drive home. He returned to work the next day, a Tuesday, but could not get his mind off Mollie.

I just didn't feel good about it, he said. I didn't have closure.

He called his veterinarian, Dr. Barrett Edgren, who encouraged Glutting, advising him not to give up on his dog.

Glutting mustered the help of a co-worker, Durae Belcer, and his nephew for a return trip to the gorge Wednesday morning.

After an hour-and-a-half hike, the group scrambled to the bottom of the gorge and resumed the search.

At one point, Belcer noticed a much smaller outcropping of rock well above the ledge that Glutting had looked at three days before. He climbed about 30 feet up the rocky slope to the ledge.

I scrambled up there and she was just laying in a bush by the cliff looking at me, said Glutting, who slid back down the slope cradling his dog. She was in pretty bad shape.

Dehydration. A broken leg. Scared. Glutting believes Mollie was able to hobble upslope to the ledge from where her pack was found, but could not go back downhill.

Mollie was put in Belcer's backpack, hindquarters first, for the hike out. As soon as Glutting could get a cellular signal near Spotted Bear, he made arrangements to meet Dr. Edgren, who was waiting at his office when Glutting arrived.

Id give her another day, another 24 hours, and she probably would have died, said Edgren, looking over Glutting holding Mollie with a bright pink cast on her front leg, two days after their return.

Im so happy and elated for him, Edgren said. I felt he needed to go back because I felt she had a real good chance of being alive.

She's a special dog, Glutting said. I couldn't give up if there was any hope at all.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com