Mountain survivor recalls bug diet on Wash. slope

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Derek Mamoyac, a climber who survived five nights alone on a southern Washington mountain and ate insects while crawling toward safety, remembers well how his mountain meals tasted.

The centipedes? Like Doritos.

And the ants? Spicy, like hot tamales.

"When you are out there you kind of become one with your surroundings," said Mamoyac, who was reported missing last week after venturing on a one-day climb up Mount Adams. "It really seems like nothing when you are out there eating insects."

Mamoyac, 27, of Philomath, Ore., began his hike up Mount Adams before dawn Oct. 12. Family members reported him missing the next day when he failed to show up for work.

He was found Oct. 17 and flown by helicopter to Portland's Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center, where he spoke to reporters Wednesday while recovering from a broken and dislocated ankle and frostbitten toes.

From a hospital bed, he said that while on the mountain, he wouldn't allow himself to dwell on the possibility he would not be rescued.

"As long as I'm still alive, I can still be found," he remembered thinking. "Not making it is not an option."

He appeared to be in good spirits after surviving five days in the wilderness, where he said he also drank water from creeks, and ate mushrooms and berries as he tried to crawl toward safety.

He said he has climbed Mount Hood in Oregon and Mount Shasta in California, two of the Cascade Range's most daunting peaks. But it was his hike on the lesser-known Mount Adams that brought unforgettable challenges.

He compared the wind on the mountain's 11,657-foot Piker's Peak in Southern Washington that Sunday to the force of a freight train. With ice chips blowing in his eyes, Mamoyac said, he decided to turn back.

But while making his way down the mountain, he lost his footing on a patch of snow. The ground beneath it wasn't solid, he said, and he fell down a Mount Adams slope, breaking his ankle along the way.

The climber said he tried to crawl through snow and the mountain's rough terrain to safety while rescuers searched for him. The slope's rocks cut through a pair of snow pants he was wearing and scraped his skin.

He knew there was a trail that wrapped around the mountain, and he thought if he could make it to the trail, he would be found.

"Surviving, beating the odds, requires believing in the impossible," he said.

He was found Oct. 17 -- with swollen legs and suffering from dehydration -- by a team led by Greg Varney with his search dog, Trulee, a golden retriever, and navigator Ron Buermann, who kept them on course.

When Mamoyac heard the voices of the search team, he began to yell. When it reached him, he said, he felt tears begin to build.

"I was very happy," he said. "It was the best feeling of my life."