An overdue hiker was found safe after spending 10 days in Chelan County wilderness.
A 27-year-old hiker from Portland was reported overdue on Aug. 18 around 8:15 p.m.
The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said that he was in the middle of a four-day, 65-mile hike and was supposed to have returned by then.
He was last heard from on Aug. 11 as he entered the Ingalls Creek trailhead near Highway 97. Beforehand, he completed a hike through the Enchantments.
When he was reported missing, search and rescue crews spent the next two and a half days walking nearly every portion of the man’s route, which he had told friends about, according to the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
Crews also took to several potential off-course routes and used helicopters, drones and K9’s to search for him.
On Aug. 21, 11 ground teams were sent out to cover various areas in Chelan and Kittitas Counties. Around 11:30 a.m., 911 dispatch got a text from a hiker who said he was with the missing man on the Jack Creek trail near the trailhead, the sheriff’s office said.
That hiker recognized Chad as missing and offered to give him a ride back to his vehicle, according to the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
When deputies made contact with the two men, the missing hiker said it had taken him longer to get through his hike than he anticipated and he experienced some trail conditions that were “difficult to traverse,” the sheriff’s office said.
The missing hiker was healthy and uninjured.
It’s unclear if he was impacted by the wildfires in the area.
Throughout this rescue, approximately 70 people and three dogs were deployed.