Retired firefighter finds new hobby: Rescuing hikers on mountain trails

John Zeto Jr. thought he had put his career as a first responder behind him. But then he heard the echo of gunshots on an Arizona mountain trail.

Zeto followed the sound to a man asleep under a bush who had fired the bullets as a distress signal. Colt Johnson, of Shelley, Idaho, was out of water and suffering heatstroke, having accepted he was going to die.

Zeto approached and gave him water, then carried Johnson about 3 miles off the trail that May 2024 afternoon before driving Johnson’s car roughly 20 miles to the nearest store to buy him Gatorade. It likely saved Johnson’s life.

That rescue was one of the most dramatic of Zeto’s mission since retiring as a firefighter of three decades: saving hikers on Arizona’s most difficult trails. Zeto, who picked up hiking in fall 2023, carries extra water bottles, trail mix granola bars, electrolyte tablets and ankle braces in his backpack so he can distribute them to fellow hikers.

Zeto, 58, said he has helped resuscitate a man who collapsed in front of him, carried a woman who broke her leg on a trail and served as a crutch for multiple hikers who sprained their ankles, as previously reported by Phoenix news station KNXV.

“That’s what I’ve always done: You deal with people and their problems,” Zeto, who retired from the Tampa Fire Rescue in August 2019, told the Washington Post. “So this was kind of a natural thing for me.”

While visiting his son, John Zeto III, in Phoenix in October 2023, Zeto Jr. went to Grand Canyon National Park and fell in love with the mountains. He stayed in a spare bedroom in his son’s home for weeks – longer than he had intended – before renting an apartment.

While hiking Phoenix’s Camelback Mountain near the end of 2023, Zeto stopped at one point from fatigue, but felt embarrassed, so he pretended he was taking a photo on his phone. A woman walking by asked if he was okay. That motivated Zeto to condition himself for Arizona’s toughest trails. He began hiking four or five days per week.

But in his new hobby, Zeto ended up using the skills he developed as a firefighter.

In February 2024, Zeto was walking down Phoenix’s Piestewa Peak when a man collapsed in front of him, causing his head to bleed. The man wasn’t breathing, Zeto said, so he performed CPR and asked other hikers to help. One called 911, Zeto said, and firefighters helped resuscitate the man before taking him to a hospital.

In May 2024, Zeto was about a half-mile up a Piestewa Peak trail when he saw a woman sitting on a bench with a broken leg. Zeto helped hold her, he said, and asked two men he saw on the trail to help, too. They carried her to the bottom of the trail, where first responders assisted her.

Zeto said he has found hikers sitting on trails with sprained ankles. At first, Zeto just helped them to the bottom of trails. Then he bought ankle braces from CVS that he has put on hikers’ ankles, allowing them to put pressure on their feet.

Zeto said he stops to check on anyone who looks tired, is leaning against something or is sitting or lounging on trails.

“When somebody’s in trouble,” Zeto said, “I can’t imagine somebody not doing everything to help.”

On May 15, 2024, Zeto was hiking a trail in the Superstition Mountains in central Arizona on a sunny, 100-degree afternoon when he heard multiple gunshots and walked toward the sounds, thinking someone was lost. About 45 minutes later, he saw a tan backpack amid green and brown shrubs, rocks and dirt.

Zeto would later learn that Johnson was visiting his wife’s family in Casa Grande, Arizona, and had decided to hike the mountains because he heard they were peaceful. He had not seen anyone else on the trail when he felt light-headed about five hours into his hike. As a call for help, he fired bullets from his 10mm handgun, which he said he brought for protection from bears. He tried texting his wife, Malia, “I need help,” but he didn’t have service.

Johnson, who had finished the 1½ gallons of water he had packed, ate gummy worms for what he thought was his final meal. The guilt of believing he was about to leave his 3-year-old daughter, Della, and his second daughter, Scottie, who Malia was pregnant with at the time, weighed on his mind.

But Johnson woke up when Zeto approached him. Zeto gave Johnson his last 2 liters of water and electrolyte pills and slung Johnson’s arm over his shoulder. Zeto headed about 3 miles northwest to where Johnson had parked.

For about two hours, Zeto carried Johnson, who is 10 inches taller than him, past boulders, rocks, inclines and declines, which Zeto described as similar to helping someone go up and down stairs. Zeto said he asked Johnson about his daughter to keep him awake.

Eventually, Zeto saw Johnson’s white Toyota Highlander parked in the distance. Near the end of the trail, where their phone service returned, Zeto pulled Malia’s phone number from Johnson’s phone and texted her: “Good afternoon I am with your husband colt. We are still on the trail heading towards his vehicle. My phone is working his not we are steadily making our way.”

Zeto pulled Johnson’s car keys from his bag, but there was another obstacle: His Highlander’s air conditioning wasn’t working. Johnson sat in the passenger’s seat as Zeto drove them southwest to Apache Junction, Arizona, where Johnson sat inside an air-conditioned store while drinking Gatorade and honey. A few hours later, Johnson felt strong enough to drive to Casa Grande.

As a firefighter, Zeto rarely developed relationships with the people he helped, saying there were too many of them. But he had dinner with Johnson and his family two days after the rescue. Johnson said his family did “a lot of thanking” over smoked ribs and brisket.

“He’s like a brother to me,” Johnson, a 27-year-old electrician, said about Zeto.

Johnson has invited Zeto to hike with him in Idaho. With the second chance Zeto granted him, Johnson said, he’ll pack a lot more water.