New to Breckenridge, Zach Hackett was exploring on the trails on Peak 4 behind his new apartment last month when he heard a single, “Yip.”

If not for that small cry, Hackett probably never would have spotted Riley, a 9-year-old sheltie that somehow survived five weeks through Colorado’s wintry conditions. But there, off trail where Hackett had just happened to wander, the small black-and-white dog sat among the downed trees, emaciated and hardly able to move.

“He had no energy when I found him. He knew he was in trouble. He knew he needed to be rescued,” Hackett said. “So that little ‘yip’ was the only exertion of energy he had that night. It was a, ‘Hey, save me.’”

In steep, timber-laden terrain above 12,000 feet and having crossed the Blue River to reach the trailhead, Hackett knew it wouldn’t be any easy task to get the dog home — but he also felt he had no other choice.

Read more at vaildaily.com.

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