An overdue backpacker was found and airlifted to Olympia for medical evaluation and care, Olympic National Park reported Sunday night.
Jerren Fisher, 26, of New York is in stable condition, said Penny Wagner, park spokesperson.
He was found four days after he was reported missing by his family on Thursday. He was on a road trip by himself, his family said. He had had a wilderness permit for Sept. 8-12 and was planning to camp at Enchanted Valley, Marmot Lake, Camp Pleasant and Sundown Lake, Wagner said.
National Park Service search and rescue teams found Fisher and a Coast Guard helicopter hoisted him up and carried him to Olympia, Wagner said.
Six teams had been out searching for Fisher on Sunday. His last known location had been the Graves Creek Trailhead in the Quinault Rain Forest — where rangers found his vehicle.
Rangers had been interviewing people who were on the same trails.
#UPDATE: Hoist cam footage of the rescued hiker. The man was hoisted by a helicopter crew from Astoria, #Oregon. According to the pilot, the man was well prepared for the situation he found himself in. @OlympicNP pic.twitter.com/qQnRzF6UKO
— USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) September 20, 2021
Fisher was described as standing 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds, with light brown hair in a ponytail and a thick red beard. He is known to hike in tie-dye T-shirts and bright colors, the park had said.
On Thursday, search and rescue personnel hiked into the wilderness from the Graves Creek Trailhead toward Sundown Lake following Fisher’s itinerary in reverse, as well as from the North Fork Skokomish Trail, Wagner said.
National Park Service personnel who were already in the wilderness assisted with the search between Marmot Lake and Camp Pleasant. Olympic Mountain Rescue also joined the search efforts on Thursday and worked in the area of Six Ridge and the Seven Stream drainage area.
On Friday, search teams covered the area from Sundown Lake to South Fork Skokomish Trail via Sundown Pass, Sundown Lake to the North Fork Skokomish Trail via Six Ridge Pass and the North Fork Skokomish Trail from Staircase to Six Ridge.
On Saturday, searchers combed the Wynoochee Pass Trail and the switchbacks in the Seven Stream area, Wagner said.
Teams in the field were made up of Olympic Mountain Rescue and Tacoma Mountain Rescue volunteers with assistance from National Park Service personnel, Washington State Search and Rescue Planning Unit and North Cascades National Park.
