Missing Hiker - Hesperus Mnt - 6/24/2023

[NovaDevi25]

"could be wary of public" .... That's an interesting comment in the context of a possibly missing person.

If he needs medication, + "wary of public" tends to make me think he has a medical condition that could result in altered mentation. Everything from seizures to hypoglycemia to DKA to things such as schizophrenia could make someone more wary of other people if they're without meds. The "warry of people" does not necessarily mean they are intentionally being warry or not wanting to be found.

[nyker]

Makes sense. Wasn't aware he was in need of or on medication.

[kenmurphey]

I know Ian even without his meds he is a completely non-violent person. Please stop this s**t speculation.

Ken Murphey

[seano]

"could be wary of public" .... That's an interesting comment in the context of a possibly missing person.

i.e. "Might not want to be found"?

Strange indeed...

That’s my take. He survived one night, and was seen the next evening along the main road, where he could have hitched into town if he wanted. Not much to be gained from internet sleuthing at this point.

[Jorts]

That’s my take. He survived one night, and was seen the next evening along the main road, where he could have hitched into town if he wanted. Not much to be gained from internet sleuthing at this point.

It's truly bizarre. I assume the authorities thoroughly interviewed the party in La Plata Canyon that saw him to conclude that it was not a case of mistaken identity. From Hesperus Peak that far south nearly to Mayday and the very end of La Plata Canyon is just remarkable. One thought with that, if he was seen in the evening of the 26th (~24 hours after summiting), that means he most likely would have passed some other parties on his way to the end of the canyon during the day. Although that's assuming he was on the canyon floor. He might've come down Parrot Ridge, down a trail and out to that road. Impossible to know.

[onebyone]

Weird story. The thing is that he his 6'4" so not going to be easily confused with a lot of guys. Lots of 5'10 bearded young dudes climbing these mountains. But 6'4" skinny dude with beard should be noticed if he passed people.

[HikingSibes]

Hi. Just trying to be helpful. I live in the San Juan range area and here we still have quite a bit of snow up high.
It doesn’t sound like anyone is sure that he was seen - just speculation. So assuming he was on his way down, are there areas with snow cornices? Since there is a search going on - assume all tracks I’m snow were followed. Were search dogs brought in?
I hope he is found very soon.

[Bombay2Boulder]

Hi. Just trying to be helpful. I live in the San Juan range area and here we still have quite a bit of snow up high.
It doesn’t sound like anyone is sure that he was seen - just speculation. So assuming he was on his way down, are there areas with snow cornices? Since there is a search going on - assume all tracks I’m snow were followed. Were search dogs brought in?
I hope he is found very soon.

Durango Herald had a website update where they are posting news and update about this effort- https://cuboid-megalodon-54bf.squarespa ... RudJfvVWXA

[debo]

The authorities reinterviewed the party who says they saw him on La Plata Canyon Rd and determined that it was NOT him. The moved the search away from LPC Rd back to the west side of the mountains.

[Jorts]

The authorities reinterviewed the party who says they saw him on La Plata Canyon Rd and determined that it was NOT him. The moved the search away from LPC Rd back to the west side of the mountains.

Wow. How in the... Wow.

[Boggy B]

Too bad they didn't rule out that highly unlikely lead immediately.

Was he taking the SW slopes/W ridge? Sentinel showed mostly avoidable patches of snow on the 23rd.
In that case, and assuming he didn't try to traverse over to Lavender (also unlikely given the late summit), then Owens Basin and downstream seems like the place to search.

In addition to the broken terrain in the timber below the SW slopes, navigating back to Echo in the dark could be tricky since you have to cross the creek and climb back up to your starting point.
Which spur of 566 were they camped on? 566 A appears to connect via trail to the Owens Basin Trail (does it? is there a bridge? is the junction signed?), but we always camped on 566 G and took the defunct road (which only shows up completely on the FS 2013 map) around the north end of Jackson Ridge.
That trail dies and you have to bushwhack down to and across the creek (dicey in spring) to link up with the Owens trail. In the dark/without GPS it would be tough to navigate on return and impossible without a light.

[Wentzl]

Not exactly on topic, but weird story also from the La Plata range:

https://www.denverpost.com/2023/06/28/l ... ampground/