WY WY - Austin King, 22, Yellowstone National Park, Eagle Peak, 17 Sept 2024

[LucyOso]

"Rescuers discovered King’s camp Saturday evening in the upper Howell Creek area".

Sounds like a misadventure. A fall going to the bathroom at night or wildlife encounter. An abandoned camp means he was not prepared when he went to do whatever he was doing. So sad.

Search for missing hiker in Yellowstone continues

22-year-old Austin King was last heard from on September 17.

www.wyomingnewsnow.tv

 

[arielilane]

SEP 27, 2024

Yellowstone hiker still missing

Rangers and Search and Rescue crews still have not found Austin King, the hiker who last made contact with the outside world a week and a half ago on a

www.jhnewsandguide.com

How long Search and Rescue teams keep looking depends on a number of factors, including how prepared and healthy the missing person is, how much information rescuers can find about their potential whereabouts, and how efficient the search is, said Greg Jackson, a former National Park Service ranger who retired in 2013 as deputy chief of national law enforcement.

From the article:

King is from Winona, Minnesota. This summer, he was employed by Xanterra Parks and Resorts, the private business that operates hotels and restaurants in Yellowstone. Throughout August, he posted photos of his time in Yellowstone: peaks shrouded by clouds, bridges in the northern part of the park, waterfalls on the Yellowstone River and sunsets over Yellowstone Lake and the South Entrance Road.

“Life on the road > life at home,” King wrote in one post.



Hiker Austin King
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK/COURTESY PHOTO

 

[RedHaus]

FWIW, at ~14:35, one of the 2 hikers from @Snoopster's video said "we have cell service" while at the summit of Eagle Peak. And from their video description: "The journey to Eagle Peak isn't straight forward. Use caution and watch the weather if attempting this climb."

I wonder if AK saw those words of caution.

 

[RedHaus]

Great job!
In your opinion, which pictures (between 32 in album SAR flickr) should we zoom first?

Thanks for the challenge @Happypetitvieux01. I certainly am not an expert at this, but I tried for AK's sake!

So far I matched up one aspect of the new blog ascent route map and image #22 from the SAR Album - a close up of image #20 we started with, when @truthfinder2019 first found something interesting. The title of #22 is "Eagle Peak Search & Rescue: ground teams descend Eagle Peak route (2)". It matches to a switchback section of the ascent route.

I mocked up an excerpt of #22 (with lower resolution than the original). And also, I mocked up the ascent route map to tie to #22. So to answer your question, I'd suggest looking down slope from the purple lines using the original high res. SAR image.

Key: Yellow box is three searchers (keep in mind how SMALL humans are in this scale); Red shape is what I think is the "lava flow" the two hikers referenced (around ~11:00) when trying to find the 'key hole'; Green could be the 'key hole'. The purple lines are what I think match between the two images - possibly part of AK's descent route.

 

[acutename]

I finally had time tonight to sit at my desktop and study the two North Face images on the SAR Flickr Album.

The image labeled Eagle Peak Search & Rescue: north face of Eagle Peak (2) is the source, I believe of the images of marks on a snowy slope and the cave directly above those marks, submitted by @Happypetitvieux01 and @carson3483 to the NPS/SAR.

On the image labeled Eagle Peak Search & Rescue: north face of Eagle Peak I found more of the same kind of marks above the cave. It almost appears something (a chunk of snow?) fell from above. I sure hope it was not AK.

Then I started wondering if those marks had anything realistically to do with AK: How could he have ended above that area and possibly fallen down or climbed down to the cave and continued a descent?

So I found a blog site by other hikers who summited Eagle Peak 10 years ago (I'll submit it to NPS/SAR). There are lots of pics, including foggy and snowy conditions as they descended (in daylight in August). There was also this great image, below, of their trail up and down from the summit, including the Key Hole they went through back then.

I can't match up the north face SAR images to this image, especially since I believe the SAR images are mostly of the top third of this image. So I guess I am sharing this in case anyone else finds this useful for further sleuthing.

View attachment 533981

It seems like it would have been really easy to go too far on the third switchback- it is flat and seems like a nice trail curving over the right (right hand in the picture, left side to someone descending) side of the mtn but the searchers must have looked there- on the flight diagrams, they looked everywhere.

 

[acutename]

Well, this bit is disconcerting: "The area is densely populated with grizzly bears..."

earlier in the thread, one of the experts said that they cannot always find remains because the wildlife scavenges

 

[RedHaus]

earlier in the thread, one of the experts said that they cannot always find remains because the wildlife scavenges

Yes, @acutename... I posted both bits. It is less about Bears being a threat to AK while he is alive, and more about the fact that to find his remains, if he has tragically died, may become more difficult as time passes for this reason. Here is that article I found about the realities of not finding missing people in the wilds of Yellowstone due to scavengers.

 

[outsidecreativ]

I just left yellowstone where a grizzly bear was eating a bison carcas all day today and all day yesterday. Would searchers see the bear activity if AK has died and is now becoming a target for bears? Or is the thought that given the number of days that passed before he was reported missing - this activity could be over and done with?

Yes, @acutename... I posted both bits. It is less about Bears being a threat to AK while he is alive, and more about the fact that to find his remains, if he has tragically died, may become more difficult as time passes for this reason. Here is that article I found about the realities of not finding missing people in the wilds of Yellowstone due to scavengers.

 

[RedHaus]

I just left yellowstone where a grizzly bear was eating a bison carcas all day today and all day yesterday. Would searchers see the bear activity if AK has died and is now becoming a target for bears? Or is the thought that given the number of days that passed before he was reported missing - this activity could be over and done with?

Good question... perhaps like you might watch for vultures circling over an area?

I don't know the answer to your question. But based on that article on MPs in Yellowstone, I'd guess it's the later. Perhaps we have a SAR expert here?

Sounds like you had quite a trip!

 

[RedHaus]

"Rescuers discovered King’s camp Saturday evening in the upper Howell Creek area"

RSBM
Just to clarify, in case it needs clarifying. AK's campsite at 6D8 was found by SAR Saturday a week ago, 9/21/2024.

When it was found, many of us were happy to hear AK's sleeping bag was missing. We presume it means he has it for extra protection against the elements and the possibility he might have to bivouak.

Also, AK's father reported via SM it appears AK took some water and food with him, FWIW. But @Tower raised an interesting question ^^. Did AK take fuel with him (e.g. to melt snow to drink)?

And perhaps it's worth mentioning too, for those new to survival do and don't, you should not try to hydrate by eating snow. Hopefully AK knows that.

IMO.

 

[Tower]

"Rescuers discovered King’s camp Saturday evening in the upper Howell Creek area".

Sounds like a misadventure. A fall going to the bathroom at night or wildlife encounter. An abandoned camp means he was not prepared when he went to do whatever he was doing. So sad.

Search for missing hiker in Yellowstone continues

22-year-old Austin King was last heard from on September 17.

www.wyomingnewsnow.tv

He was backpacking for 7 days and summiting Eagle’s Peak when he last contacted his family. As has been discussed earlier on this thread, he most certainly intended to return to his camp after his summit of Eagle’s Peak, which is a challenging and technical climb in which he is confirmed to have encountered bad weather. You wouldn’t carry all your gear to the top of the peak in this situation. Jmo

 

[Tower]

RSBM
Just to clarify, in case it needs clarifying. AK's campsite at 6D8 was found by SAR Saturday a week ago, 9/21/2024.

When it was found, many of us were happy to hear AK's sleeping bag was missing. We presume it means he has it for extra protection against the elements and the possibility he might have to bivouak.

Also, AK's father reported via SM it appears AK took some water and food with him, FWIW. But @Tower raised an interesting question ^^. Did AK take fuel with him (e.g. to melt snow to drink)?

And perhaps it's worth mentioning too, for those new to survival do and don't, you should not try to hydrate by eating snow. Hopefully AK knows that.

IMO.

Unfortunately, it would take a very large amount of fuel to melt snow for this long. If he did bring a little fuel in case he was stuck overnight on the peak, he would have run out quickly.

Although I do not wish to state what I am thinking, fuel quantity would be a criteria rescuers would use to determine his chances of survival. I hope there is fresh water available somehow. Jmo

 

[outsidecreativ]

Good question... perhaps like you might watch for vultures circling over an area?

I don't know the answer to your question. But based on that article on MPs in Yellowstone, I'd guess it's the later. Perhaps we have a SAR expert here?

Sounds like you had quite a trip!

Yes! Maybe there were vultures. There is a whole chain of animals that feed on bodies. From apex predators such as bears, wolves and coyotes to scavengers like vultures.

And I am in no way comparing AK to a bison - but to a bear, it is no different.

I also have a hard time believing the animals would leave absolutely no trace. Consider all of the fabric you wear, metal, glass - they would either not eat that or it would show up in their scat. (I think).

I am still hoping beyond hope he took a wrong turn and is holed up somewhere. Waiting and hanging on.

We had a great trip! Though AK was always on my mind and knowing that a set of parents was just a few miles away having the worst days of their lives was never far from mind, either.

 

[otto]

What time did he announce that he was at the summit? I read upthread that it was later in the day (??), bad weather and too late to return to his camp, but not impossible to camp overnight?

Esther Dingley vanished hiking the pyrenees peaks with what seemed like an off-route, and she was eventually found near the top of the mountain. She must have been caught in the weather, sought refuge, failed. Birds helped locate the remains.

 

[Tower]

What time did he announce that he was at the summit? I read upthread that it was later in the day (??), bad weather and too late to return to his camp, but not impossible to camp overnight?

Esther Dingley vanished hiking the pyrenees peaks with what seemed like an off-route, and she was eventually found near the top of the mountain. She must have been caught in the weather, sought refuge, failed. Birds helped locate the remains.

He last spoke with family from 7:00 to 7:27 pm on Tue 9/17. He said he was on the summit and weather was cold and wet and visibility was poor. That was about the same time as sunset. All from memory from following this thread, please correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[otto]

He last spoke with family from 7:00 to 7:27 pm on Tue 9/17. He said he was on the summit and weather was cold and wet and visibility was poor. That was about the same time as sunset. All from memory from following this thread, please correct me if I’m wrong.

Have they looked for a body straight down from the summit? Being at the summit too late to safely descend, but perfect time for sunset. Hippy sunset watching gone too far? Are there shelves below the summit that could be used for shelter during a storm?

Is anyone looking for vultures in the area?

 

[ItalyReader]

Thanks for the challenge @Happypetitvieux01. I certainly am not an expert at this, but I tried for AK's sake!

So far I matched up one aspect of the new blog ascent route map and image #22 from the SAR Album - a close up of image #20 we started with, when @truthfinder2019 first found something interesting. The title of #22 is "Eagle Peak Search & Rescue: ground teams descend Eagle Peak route (2)". It matches to a switchback section of the ascent route.

I mocked up an excerpt of #22 (with lower resolution than the original). And also, I mocked up the ascent route map to tie to #22. So to answer your question, I'd suggest looking down slope from the purple lines using the original high res. SAR image.

Key: Yellow box is three searchers (keep in mind how SMALL humans are in this scale); Red shape is what I think is the "lava flow" the two hikers referenced (around ~11:00) when trying to find the 'key hole'; Green could be the 'key hole'. The purple lines are what I think match between the two images - possibly part of AK's descent route.

View attachment 534150View attachment 534151

I'm going to put out a naive, inexpert question here - Are there grizzlies at these elevations? Or are the grizzlies lower down below?
Looking at these photos it just seems difficult to believe that grizzlies would be up in that area.
edit to add last sentence for relevancy

 

[RedHaus]

Have they looked for a body straight down from the summit?

RSBM
Hi @otto. Good to see you here. I also recently referenced the ED case ^^.

This SAR very high resolution (30-40MB size images) photo album posted ~9/24, may answer several of your questions.

Near the end is a spaghetti map of air and ground search routes as of then. They've done much more since and continue.

We have actually been studying some of the images in great detail to help find AK. There is an NPS email ^^ address some of us have submitted findings to.

I suggest you go back up thread and see the work we've done. I know you can contribute to this process and mapping! I've done some mapping of route vs. downslope fall routes, but welcome help!

IMO.

 

[truthfinder2019]

Thanks for the challenge @Happypetitvieux01. I certainly am not an expert at this, but I tried for AK's sake!

So far I matched up one aspect of the new blog ascent route map and image #22 from the SAR Album - a close up of image #20 we started with, when @truthfinder2019 first found something interesting. The title of #22 is "Eagle Peak Search & Rescue: ground teams descend Eagle Peak route (2)". It matches to a switchback section of the ascent route.

I mocked up an excerpt of #22 (with lower resolution than the original). And also, I mocked up the ascent route map to tie to #22. So to answer your question, I'd suggest looking down slope from the purple lines using the original high res. SAR image.

Key: Yellow box is three searchers (keep in mind how SMALL humans are in this scale); Red shape is what I think is the "lava flow" the two hikers referenced (around ~11:00) when trying to find the 'key hole'; Green could be the 'key hole'. The purple lines are what I think match between the two images - possibly part of AK's descent route.

View attachment 534150View attachment 534151

Great job @RedHaus

 

[Happypetitvieux01]

Wishing for closer shots of upper west face and of areas along the trail. Those curves on the trail give me chill - bad weather or not. Zooming on present pictures of around the peak can give fuzzy image too quickly.