The Umatilla County Search and Rescue (SAR) team rescued a man who became lost in the Pike’s Peak area of Umatilla County, east of Milton-Freewater.
On Sunday, around 9 p.m., the county SAR team was activated to search for the missing hiker. A couple from Walla Walla was hiking in the area when they became separated near nightfall, according to the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office. The woman successfully returned to their vehicle while her 63-year-old husband did not. He phoned his employer, who alerted the Umatilla County Communications Center.
Dispatch was able to locate a signal from his cellular phone and SAR members Travis Lundquist and Josh English responded to the area. After hiking cross country up a relatively steep slope in the dark, Lundquist and English located the lost man at about 2:40 a.m. The man was dressed in shorts and a sweat shirt, and was uninjured. They escorted him back to his wife and vehicle without incident. Both the hiker and his wife were very appreciative, according to the sheriff’s office.
