Missing Wonderland Trail Hiker Found

Mount Rainier National Park (WA)
Missing Wonderland Trail Hiker Found

On the afternoon of Thursday, July 23rd, a 17-year-old boy from New York disappeared while hiking with his family on a southwest section of the Wonderland Trail. The family hiked west from Longmire on the Wonderland as far as Pyramid Creek that morning, then began their return hike to Longmire, retracing their earlier route. The boy was last seen by his family at the Kautz Creek crossing, where he moved ahead of the group. A ground search was conducted on Thursday evening and resumed on Friday morning. When ground searchers were unable to locate the boy, a helicopter was called in to assist. He was spotted by the helicopter team in the Kautz Creek drainage near the point last seen just after 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon. He was air lifted to the Kautz helibase and was reunited with family members at Longmire. He reportedly attempted to shortcut on a social trial which took him north, further up the drainage and above the initial search area. A total of 29 park staff and a helicopter and crew from Northwest Helicopters were assigned to the incident. Laura Bellasalma was incident commander.