A lost hiker was able to survive two unplanned nights in cold, wet conditions in the Adirondacks last weekend because he built a shelter that kept him out of the elements.

According to an article on LakePlacidNews.com, Richard Guinan, a 40-year-old soldier stationed at Fort Drum, climbed St. Regis Mountain Saturday morning and successfully made the summit before heading back down the trail. But according to forest rangers, Guinan may have followed two other people off the trail before becoming lost.

Rangers said Guinan should have been more prepared for the hike; he had no map or compass, and he didn’t have extra layers to put on. But he made good decisions once he realized he was lost, including building a shelter with logs and moss against a rock.

The shelter helped shield him from the weekend’s cold, wet weather, and it may have saved his life. Rangers said he wasn’t hypothermic when they found him Monday morning, just scratched up and hungry.

Read about a lost hiker surviving two nights in the Adirondacks.