A father and son who became lost while hiking in southern Utah’s wilderness survived a cold night thanks to a “miracle” backpack found at just the right moment.
We have all experienced God’s provision in our lives countless times. Even before we think about our needs, He knows exactly what we need. In this story, God used a forgotten backpack to save a father and son lost in the wilderness.
Julian Hernandez and his son went hiking on the Red Mountain Trail area of Dammeron Valley in southern Utah. Their simple hike turned serious when daylight faded and they realized they were lost without proper supplies for an overnight stay.
“We didn’t have the proper things,” Julian explained. “The first thing that came to my mind was to find shelter.”
As darkness fell and temperatures dropped, the father-son pair faced the reality of spending a night in the wilderness without preparation.
Cold and worried about what morning would bring, they kept searching for anything that might help them make it through the night.
Then something amazing happened. While searching for shelter, Julian and his son found a green backpack full of survival supplies sitting on the trail as if it had been placed there just for them.
“The moment we found the backpack—it was lovely,” Julian said, clearly relieved by the discovery.
Inside the backpack, they found life-saving supplies: Pop-Tarts, Cliff bars, an emergency tent, first aid items, and a water jug. These supplies kept them alive through the cold night until help arrived the next morning.
“We found some food in there so that kept us pretty well. Also, he had a water jug,” Julian said. “It kept us pretty well into the morning.”
The story of how the backpack got there is just as remarkable. About 45 days earlier, 15-year-old Levi Dittman had been hiking in the same area when he also got lost.
Levi had carefully packed his hiking backpack with gear, emergency supplies, and food—a project that cost him between $200-300.
“Looking at the map, it seems flat, which it’s not,” Levi warned about the misleading trail. “So, anyone else, do not try this.”
While climbing a steep ravine, Levi became stuck on a ledge overnight. During this ordeal, he threw his backpack to a different spot, hoping to get it later.
Although search and rescue teams saved Levi, his carefully packed backpack stayed behind.
“I kinda just had to leave it there, which was a bit frustrating because I think at the time it was 200 to 300 bucks worth of stuff,” Levi explained.
For six weeks, the green backpack sat alone in the wilderness—until Julian and his son found it exactly when they needed it most. What makes this even more special is that Julian and his son got trapped in the same spot where Levi had been stranded.
When Levi learned that his lost backpack had possibly saved the lives of two strangers, he simply said: “I’m glad it could help someone.”
On Monday, February 17, Julian returned the backpack to local authorities, who then gave it back to Levi and his mother, Gretchen Dittman. For Gretchen, what happened was clearly more than just luck.
“It was just such a moment of miracle,” she said. “It was just like a miracle had happened.”
Gretchen saw in this chain of events the clear work of God, arranging circumstances across time to bring help exactly when and where it was needed.
“You really have to have faith that God’s working,” Gretchen explained. “Sometimes He’s using a backpack that sat for a month and a half for some guy that needed help in that moment—in the dark and cold. This is a God… fingerprint, you know? It was just really cool.”
The timing makes the story even more amazing. Levi lost his backpack in early January. For about 45 days, it stayed in the wilderness, untouched, until the exact moment when Julian and his son desperately needed those supplies.
If anyone else had found the backpack during those six weeks, or if animals had gotten into it, the story might have ended very differently.
As the word of God reminds us, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matthew 6:34). He knows what tomorrow holds and already has a plan for us. This story shows exactly what that means.
When Julian and his son found themselves lost in the wilderness, God had already prepared their provision 45 days earlier through Levi’s backpack.
In the same way, God walks before us and prepares things for us that “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
WATCH: Father and Son Finds ‘Miracle’ Backpack After Being Lost in the Utah Wilderness
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
Video not working?
