On July 3rd, a 33–year-old Clovis, California, man hiked from Florence Lake into the northern part of Kings Canyon National Park with the intent to climb Mt. Goddard. He was expected to return to his vehicle on July 7th, but by July 9th had not returned home. Joint search operations were begun on July 9th with Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
On July 10th, search operations intensified, with six NPS hasty teams, the parks’ contract Type 3 helicopter, Yosemite NP’s Type 2 helicopter, and an NPS liaison assigned to Fresno County.
Searchers reached the summit of Mount Goddard (elevation 13,558) and the peak register was found to have an entry left by the missing man on July 5th. On the evening of July 10th, the final team insertion took place around sunset near Davis Lake (elevation of 11,058), about two miles north of Mt. Goddard.
As the helicopter was on final approach to the landing zone, the man was seen lying on the ground approximately fifty yards away. The search team contacted him and found he had significant trauma to his lower extremities. He said that he had been injured five days earlier while descending Mt. Goddard, had run out of food, and ultimately crawled toward Davis Lake.
As sunset approached, potentially grounding the helicopter, the man was rapidly bandaged and carried to the helicopter by hand. He was flown back to the park helibase, where he was transferred to a Life Flight helicopter for transport to a local hospital.
The Moon is Waning Crescent (19% of Full)
Re: Missing Hiker Found In Kings Canyon
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July 14, 2014 12:48PM |
July 14, 2014 03:10PM |
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