An afternoon hike near Transfer Campground in the San Juan National Forest quickly turned harrowing for two teens who risked life and limb to save a drowning dog.
Kaela and Mason Blackmon, Macon, Ga., natives, were on a hike near Transfer Campground- roughly 7 north of Mancos State Park- with their grandmother, a family friend and her dogs.
As one of the dogs jumped on some rocks in the raging creek at least 10 feet wide and deep, a current swept its legs out from under it. The 8-year-old yellow lab was stuck in a whirlpool.
That was when 15-year-old Mason and 16-year-old Kaela jumped into action.
"You'd try to get closer, and the current would push you back out, and the water was freezing, at least 32 degrees," he said. "I had to work my way around the outside. The dog had on a collar, so when I got over to her, I grabbed her by the collar, and then collar came off."
While Mason worked to get the dog out of the whirlpool, Kaela helped the dog's owner safely back to shore.
Perhaps channeling the cowboy ethos of Mancos, Mason eventually made a lasso out of the dog leash and attempted to rope the dog and pull her in. After a 45-minute struggle, it worked.
"We used it out instinct. We're both extreme animal lovers, so we didn't really even think we just jumped in the water when we knew she had fallen," said Kaela. "We didn't know how to do anything with the best we had and we had very little."