Missing hiker found on Mount Persis in Snohomish Co.
GOLD BAR, Wash. - Rescuers found a missing hiker Thursday after responding to an emergency beacon alert on Mount Persis in Snohomish County.
Shari L. Ireton of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office says the alerts began around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday from the mountain's 2,400-foot level. The area is just north of Mount Index in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
The missing hiker, a 39-year-old Seattle man, was found Thursday morning as he was walking out of the area on his own. He was uninjured, said Snohomish County sheriff's Lt. Rob Beidle.
Beidler says the man's dog got lost Wednesday and trapped in the snow-well around a tree. By the time he got the dog out it was dark, so he signaled for help with an emergency beacon.
Temperatures in the area dropped to about 20 degrees overnight.
Shari L. Ireton of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office says the alerts began around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday from the mountain's 2,400-foot level. The area is just north of Mount Index in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
The missing hiker, a 39-year-old Seattle man, was found Thursday morning as he was walking out of the area on his own. He was uninjured, said Snohomish County sheriff's Lt. Rob Beidle.
Beidler says the man's dog got lost Wednesday and trapped in the snow-well around a tree. By the time he got the dog out it was dark, so he signaled for help with an emergency beacon.
Temperatures in the area dropped to about 20 degrees overnight.
I'm glad that he made it out uninjured, but why did he not have gear that would allow him to spend the night (another news outlet reports that he didn't)? Sometimes it seems like people use technology as a replacement for being prepared and using good sense.
@Silvia another news outlet reports that he didn't
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link please..
 @barkingmad  @Silvia I heard it on a KOMO radio news report - sorry. No link to that. :-( But even if he was prepared, why didn't he just spend the night without activating the beacon? Being prepared doesn't mean that you'll be all toasty warm and well fed, but it does mean that you'll be safe.
Glad the hiker was prepared. Kudos to those assisting with the rescue.
 @barkingmad I hike out from trips in the dark. All one needs is proper navigation and a flashlight. No need to call for help. this IMHO is a waste of search and rescue money.Â
 @suhleenah  @barkingmad I don't agree that all one needs is proper navigation and a flashlight (what if you get injured?), but I agree that in this case the search and rescue didn't need to be called out.
 @Rutabaga  @suhleenah  @barkingmad I'm only making that assumption because of a news report I heard this morning that said he was NOT prepared to spend the night in this weather.
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I know - they've changed the 10 Essentials since I was trained...and even then, we used to debate how you count the Essentials - is map/compass one item or two, etc.
@Silvia@suhleenah@barkingmad
You are making the assumption that this hiker as well as suhleenah do not carry emergency supplies when I am positive that at least one of them does.Â
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I have traveled at night on many occasions with only my navigation skills and a flashlight. I did, however have emergency gear among many other items in my pack that need not be mentioned because I did not use them.
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This hiker either got lost and blamed it on his dog :) or when he went off trail to find her, lost track of where he was and found it too difficult or did not know the way out. Â Probably had a first aid kit as well.
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FYI: I do not carry 10 essentials, I carry 11.
 @suhleenah  @barkingmad Exactly. He was uninjured. But as a "just in case" you/someone in your group should get injured, you always need emergency supplies. I have been injured twice on "easy" day hikes (good weather, etc). There is nothing fun about being helped back down the trail with a broken arm or leg. It was only tolerable and survivable because I and my companions had the 10 Essentials. What happened to me can happen to *anyone*. I wasn't doing anything stupid, neither were my companions.
 @Silvia  @barkingmad I said that because the article stated that he was UNINJURED.Â
 @barkingmad Prepared with what? A beacon is nice, but it doesn't qualify as being prepared.
 @Silvia  @barkingmad It's more prepared than a lot of people I see on the trails with just ordinary clothes and no first aid kit, inadequate water and no foul weather gear.
 @Glassman  @barkingmad So true. But I am afraid that people carry a beacon and think that if they get into trouble, they can just expect rescuers to come and help them off the trail. They are putting well meaning rescuers in harms way because they were too stupid/lazy/irresponsible to look out for themselves.
Glad he had the foresight to have a beacon.
Sure....blame it on the dog!
Persis is a rugged mountain- was on the summit just over 2 weeks ago. It's definitely not a mountain to visit alone, many tree holes to fall into-- we broke 3 mountaineering snowshoes in our group that day. 2400 foot level means he is down between the "trail" and where you'd need to park off the FS road.Â
May he be found safe. Â Certainly that emergency beacon will be of great assistance finding him.