Found Safe ID/MT - Kaden Laga, 20, riding horses w/family, separated, Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, 11 Aug 2019

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MFH said:
Search for Kaden Laga

I think I can answer a little of the horse questions within the TOS because the official page answered someone in the comments of this post.

As to whether Kaden was walking the horse out or not posted by Search for Kaden Laga:
As we understand the horse was left tied to retrieve later that day. The horse was located earlier this week in the initial stages of searching.
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Very useful information. I was hoping they were together - one reason being for warmth at night.

jmo
 
Inthedetails said:
Very useful information. I was hoping they were together - one reason being for warmth at night.

jmo
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Yes. And another being that I would think they would be easier to track/find if they were together. It doesn’t specify if the horse was found where it was left or not though. That’s what I would imagine, but either way this is all so strange and such a difficult area to search.
 
Luckyzmom said:
Selway is huge wilderness area. Praying Kaden is found quickly, he's got to be experienced enough to know what to do if he's hurt or off trail. Prayers for the family and SARS teams and LE.MOO
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There are some good things going in this case. He is young and healthy, seems bright, has experience outdoors (how much, IDK), and has a new baby to live for. It's possible he got wet and that is a concern because of hypothermia. There is also the concern of a fall which injured him. But if he's dry and uninjured, he has a good chance of surviving until he finds help or help finds him.

Fingers crossed that that "Found Safe" notification.

jmo
 
Is there a concern for wildlife behind dangerous in that area? I’m assuming so because it’s a wilderness, but I have never been there and don’t know if the bears, etc are a danger to humans usually or not.
 
This may sound totally ridiculous to some of you but it seems strange to me that he would be left behind to walk back. Why couldn't he ride behind one of the other riders ( riders could take turns letting him ride tandem so horse would not tire as quickly). How were they planning on bringing the lame horse back? How clear is the trail? Would it have been difficult to see the trail or very evident?
 
lonetraveler said:
This may sound totally ridiculous to some of you but it seems strange to me that he would be left behind to walk back. Why couldn't he ride behind one of the other riders ( riders could take turns letting him ride tandem so horse would not tire as quickly). How were they planning on bringing the lame horse back? How clear is the trail? Would it have been difficult to see the trail or very evident?
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Yeah, I don't get the decision making in that moment - what was the point of separating? I think we're missing some info that explains that part.

How far was the walk back?

jmo
 
what happened to the horse that it became so lame it could not walk? And they tied it up and left it there? Were they with a guide? Might a guide have suggested they ride together? This is weird and I am not one to make a judgment like that without a bunch more facts but this is either really odd or he is right there, making his way back.
 
AzPistonsGirl said:
what happened to the horse that it became so lame it could not walk? And they tied it up and left it there? Were they with a guide? Might a guide have suggested they ride together? This is weird and I am not one to make a judgment like that without a bunch more facts but this is either really odd or he is right there, making his way back.
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I am not judging either - but I wonder if there was an argument? Maybe over the horse or something else and he didn't want to continue with the group. Not that he intended to get lost, but just walk off a little steam and then did get lost.

jmo
 
AzPistonsGirl said:
what happened to the horse that it became so lame it could not walk? And they tied it up and left it there? Were they with a guide? Might a guide have suggested they ride together? This is weird and I am not one to make a judgment like that without a bunch more facts but this is either really odd or he is right there, making his way back.
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I don't think it's been reported what caused the horse's lameness. It could've gotten a hoof/foot/leg injury, thrown a shoe, or had something else happen, IMO.

This briefly discusses trail riding and equine lameness:

Dealing With Trail Riding Injuries - Kentucky Equine Research
 
lonetraveler said:
This may sound totally ridiculous to some of you but it seems strange to me that he would be left behind to walk back. Why couldn't he ride behind one of the other riders ( riders could take turns letting him ride tandem so horse would not tire as quickly). How were they planning on bringing the lame horse back? How clear is the trail? Would it have been difficult to see the trail or very evident?
Click to expand...

Only some horses are big enough and trained for tandem. But everyone could have walked together and he could have walked behind the horses. I assume he thought he had a short cut, that the horses couldn't go on. That's very common, but separating is already increasing his chances of getting lost.

It's odd to me that the lame horse was left out there, must have been a fairly serious injury.

If he was not on a clearly marked trail, plus he was alone...that's the second step in a recipe for getting lost. I bet they did not have whistles and didn't devise a plan for keeping track of the lone, unhorsed individual. Maybe he thought it would be fun to be a while in the woods by himself. I think it would be very tempting.
 
Honestly, this doesn't make a lot of sense to me. As a person who has been in the area, and ridden horses there. Most folks stay on the main paths, they are fairly well marked.

If he went off of the trail, did he have any type of topo map or compass? So many folks rely on their cell phones, many places here don't have cell service off the main roads, that includes GPS coverage. Cell phones can go dead quickly too, that is why most folks have maps, and a regular compass. I hike with a Garmin 30x, pre-loaded with maps, it is nice, because it can run on AA batteries as well.

At least weather conditions are not bad right now. There are not a lot of bears in the area. Hope he is found soon. It is Summer, there are a lot of folks around hiking, camping...he should be found soon. But, again, never go out alone. Things happen fast.
 
Search narrows for man who went missing in Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

Holton said a horse had gone lame and family members were taking turns walking. When the family stopped for lunch, Laga said he would continue to walk with the idea they would catch up with him.

The family arrived at the Twin Lakes trailhead without seeing him again.

Laga was about 16 miles west of Twin Lakes when he was last seen.

Helicopters from Two Bear Air, Choice Aviation and the Montana National Guard have flown over the expansive area without spotting Laga.
 
Authorities search for Orem man missing in Montana mountains

SABBM:

Morris said that because the dogs had detected his scent, they have been able to decrease the search area to 30 square miles. While they have found his scent, infrared helicopters have not been able to detect his whereabouts. Search and rescue tried to ping his cellphone Tuesday without success.

Morris said he was wearing a cowboy hat and a polar fleece sweater and had about a quart of water, so she hopes he is well enough off with those supplies.

Kaden Laga’s wife, Arden Laga, posted on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon. She is expecting their first baby around Thanksgiving.
__________________________

I'm a little mystified as to why nobody reported him missing until Monday when he was supposed to meet up with them at the trailhead at 3pm on Sunday after they separated.

I don't understand that decision-making process to wait on reporting him missing at all.
At all.

I'm getting a weird vibe from this one.

I think KL being voluntarily missing is a very real possibility here.

JMO.
 
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zecats said:
Search narrows for man who went missing in Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

Holton said a horse had gone lame and family members were taking turns walking. When the family stopped for lunch, Laga said he would continue to walk with the idea they would catch up with him.

The family arrived at the Twin Lakes trailhead without seeing him again.

Laga was about 16 miles west of Twin Lakes when he was last seen.

Helicopters from Two Bear Air, Choice Aviation and the Montana National Guard have flown over the expansive area without spotting Laga.
Click to expand...
Okay, so this is different. The group didn't walk ahead of him. Instead, he walked ahead of them.

A bit odd that it's hard to get the straightfoward description of events, but sounds like we have it now. This makes more sense than him deciding to walk behind.

I bet the family kept thinking they would either eventually catch up to him while they walked or would meet him at the trailhead so they didn't worry as they walked along.

jmo
 
Sulamith said:
I wonder why at least one family member did not stay with him. IMO, there is something off about this. Hope I am wrong.

ETA: After looking at some social media I wonder if he just wanted to walk away from his life and start a new one. He is very young. MOO
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Do we know the ages and conditions of the other family members? It's not clear from what I'm reading how many people were on this excursion. His dad is mentioned as being on horseback (by his mom - was she on horseback too? Was his wife there?) Anyway, it would seem there were only 3-4 of them. Since it says he was riding with his family, I doubt there was a guide.

Pregnant wife might not want to walk back by a longer distance; someone needs accompany her back - I'm guessing that's his dad. I don't know if he'd want his mom giving up a horse to walk with him.

Best thing to do would be stay together, although presumably some of the terrain covered by the horses might be really difficult for a human. So they would have all had to go which ever way the walker could handle. They might have been concerned about having the horses out that late. That area is notorious for being maze-like and difficult to walk through without a topo map and a compass (and a headlamp and a sleeping bag).

The articles on this are maddeningly short of info (as is the family's facebook page). I know they don't want untrained searchers, but surely they would want for people who might just be going hiking out that way to be on the look-out? Where is this trailhead? How did he get onto the trail - were they at a trail fork when they separated? All of that would be helpful for people know if they were planning trips out there this week.

Any locals know where the trailhead is? The one he was aiming for?
 
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