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Rescued Hiker Recounts Ordeal in Maine's Baxter State Park

MILLINOCKET, Maine - A 78-year-old hiker from Virginia who went missing in Maine's Baxter State Park says he survived on granola bars, water and his backwoods skills for three days until he was rescued.

John Lyontold the Portland Press Heraldfrom his hospital room Monday that he was scratched and bruised, but still confident during the first two days he was lost in the park.

But on the third day, the veteran outdoorsman says it started to get cold and he began to pray.

Lyon was plucked from a mountainside by Forest Service rangers who spotted him waving on Sunday.

He's recovering from a partially collapsed lung and several bumps and bruises.

Lyon says he left his companions Thursday to hike ahead before he got lost. He wasn't carrying a map.