‘Are We Going to Freeze to Death, Daddy?’: The Harrowing Mountain Ordeal
A father in the United States is facing serious criminal charges after he allegedly abandoned his three young children on a freezing mountain during a hiking trip that turned into a fight for survival. The distressing incident, which occurred in Utah on October 11, saw the children, aged just two, four, and eight, endure a 24-hour nightmare in treacherous weather conditions.
A Hike That Became a Nightmare
Thirty-one-year-old Micah Smith led his children on what was supposed to be an adventurous day out on the Broads Fork Trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The trail is known within the hiking community as a "strenuous" route, featuring a steep 2,100 ft elevation change over a five-mile round trip. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill later stated it was “not an easy hike that you would take a child upon.”
According to charging documents, the situation deteriorated rapidly. The children, lightly dressed for the conditions, soon grew tired and fearful. The eight-year-old girl, capturing the family's desperation on phone footage, repeatedly begged her father to turn back as a storm approached. Her heartbreaking question, “Are we going to freeze to death, Daddy?” was met with refusal. Smith allegedly dismissed her concerns, telling her it was a “once-in-a-lifetime thing” and insisting “you shall not pass.”
A Descent into Danger and Abandonment
As conditions worsened, turning to rain, fog, and hail, the group was forced to seek shelter around 8 pm. The night was described as “really hard,” with the children freezing, their clothes soaked and teeth chattering. The two-year-old boy fell, hit his head, and became unresponsive. The four-year-old boy developed severe hypothermia, with his older sister attempting to save him by hugging him tightly, breathing into his mouth, and pushing on his chest.
In the early hours of the following morning, authorities allege that Smith abandoned the three children. When search and rescue teams encountered him on the trail, they noted he was behaving oddly and showed little concern for his children, even telling them one child was dead.
The Critical Rescue and Aftermath
Rescuers faced an extremely difficult mission, with four deputies suffering bloody arms, knuckles, and puncture wounds during the ascent. They eventually located the children 600 feet from the summit, where they had taken shelter in a makeshift structure. The rescuers found the four-year-old lying on top of his unconscious two-year-old brother. Both younger children were in a critical condition, unable to breathe.
The eight-year-old girl was listed as stable, but her brothers required urgent hospitalisation. The four-year-old was found to have a body temperature of just 62.6 degrees Fahrenheit and later suffered a stroke, which required part of his skull to be removed.
Micah Smith was booked into Salt Lake County jail on November 25, charged with three counts of child torture and three counts of aggravated child abuse. He is being held without bail. This was not his first encounter with law enforcement; just one month prior, he was found with two guns and an axe while expressing suicidal intentions.
