This hits close to home. My dad was raised in this area and I go down here quite often to escape the stresses of "city life" (live in Denver) and spend time with my parents. He tells me so many crazy stories, mostly surrounding weather. One of the most notable was a similar situation to the missing campers scenario wherein a freak, late spring snow storm dumped over two feet of snow overnight on my dad and a college buddy. They really didn't believe that they were going to make it out alive and they were making end of life plans for identification when S&R arrived. He said that he learned that he only thought he was prepared, but that event taught him to prepare even more thoroughly and to expect the unexpected. He was lucky.

Here's a map, just for reference. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CS1dchOHf79iGj4GHdlqWHkvpx...

In fact, a just a few days after Joe (now I know is name) went missing, I was up in that general area on a solo camping trip of my own (Kerr Lake, on the map). I also spend time in the La Jara Reservoir area (in an area known as Jacob's Hill on the map). I remember how rainy that summer was and how much time I spent in my tent that long weekend. During one of the breaks in the rain, I went wandering around and was struck by how remote everything was. I was used to the remoteness of the La Jara Reservoir wilderness area, but this was on a totally different level. I've linked to a few pictures from my aforementioned trip. One is of my poor dog trapped in a tent with me at Kerr Lake. The other two are from the Conejos River, a few miles south of the Platoro Reservoir. In one you can see some of Platoro's buildings. Admittedly, this is probably about 15-20 miles north of Rainbow Trout Ranch, but the pictures were taken on my drive down the same road on which Joe and Collin were running and I would have driven past that area (2015-07-29).

The terrain, as described in this article, is imposing but tranquil. There's a fun rock formation in the area that locals call "Monkey Face" because it looks like a monkey's face from the road. Unfortunately, years of weather have eroded it so that the features are not as prominent. Unfortunately, I don't recall noticing any S&R activity. I've ridden through the canyon with my dad many times, but this was my first time driving it (37 years old) and I remember remarking to myself about how beautiful it is and how I wish that my family had retained their property in the area.

Conejos County is extremely poor. Their taxpayer base couldn't sustain a significant S&R budget even if a law enacted it. There would absolutely need to be significant federal support. As the article mentioned, the amount of wilderness in this area, both in the plains of the San Luis Valley and in the remote San Juan forest lands, would be a rough place to get lost in general. That there's simply no real budget for organized S&R exacerbates the problem. It is a nice escape, but it is no place I would want to be stranded or lost.

My heart breaks for Joe's family. I can't imagine losing my only son. How traumatic. I have further thoughts on this, but I believe reverence for their loss is a higher priority than pressing into those thoughts.

https://imgur.com/a/FZavX