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

[RedHaus]

When I zoom in on the area circled in this SAR image - I see something that is a shade of yellow(?) that doesn't match or repeat anywhere else. I am guessing it is just the way the light is hitting and reflecting on snow but wasn't sure.

Interesting find, @outsidecreativ... I had to get to my desktop to see what I think you saw. Here is my attempt at pointing the yellow item out... is that what you saw too? Hard to guestimate the size as it could be human size or hat size. Just hard to tell (for me!) once I start playing with zooming and the resulting shifts in scale.

Anyhow, like I said to @Tomgetty earlier, feel free to send your finding(s) into the NPS at the email I included in that post, #196. For reference for others, this is SAR album image #23, terrain below Eagle Peak climber's route

 

[outsidecreativ]

Interesting find, @outsidecreativ... I had to get to my desktop to see what I think you saw. Here is my attempt at pointing the yellow item out... is that what you saw too? Hard to guestimate the size as it could be human size or hat size. Just hard to tell (for me!) once I start playing with zooming and the resulting shifts in scale.

Anyhow, like I said to @Tomgetty earlier, feel free to send your finding(s) into the NPS at the email I included in that post, #196. For reference for others, this is SAR album image #23, terrain below Eagle Peak climber's route

View attachment 534472

Yes! That is what I saw. Thank you for providing clearer imagery of it. My first thought was just the way the light plays on the rock/snow - but interesting I didn't see that color elsewhere.

 

[RedHaus]

"Greg Jackson, a former National Park Service ranger...said there are a number of unknowns regarding King’s disappearance.
For example, King’s camp was found southeast of the peak. Why he left it is unclear....“Under what circumstances would you leave your camp?” Jackson said. “Most people wouldn’t leave their survival supplies on purpose.”

RS&BBM
OK, I was going to take a break for a bit from this case until I saw your post, @Happypetitvieux01!

IMO, this is a very strange thing to say given the working assumption by AK's family and SAR, I believe, is AK left his 6D8 camp (see my post #189 for location reference) to scale Eagle Peak some time on 9/17, and planned to return.

The only details we know from SAR and family is AK's sleeping bag, and some food and water were missing from his camp when it was discovered 9/21. So what is unclear, I wonder? Is there some evidence (e.g. cell phone signals) AK made it back to his camp after summiting and SAR is now trying to figure out what happened to him after that???

Or is this just a misinformed statement or incorrect reporting? Anyone else have thoughts?

 

[Tomgetty]

RS&BBM
OK, I was going to take a break for a bit from this case until I saw your post, @Happypetitvieux01!

IMO, this is a very strange thing to say given the working assumption by AK's family and SAR, I believe, is AK left his 6D8 camp (see my post #189 for location reference) to scale Eagle Peak some time on 9/17, and planned to return.

The only details we know from SAR and family is AK's sleeping bag, and some food and water were missing from his camp when it was discovered 9/21. So what is unclear, I wonder? Is there some evidence (e.g. cell phone signals) AK made it back to his camp after summiting and SAR is now trying to figure out what happened to him after that???

Or is this just a misinformed statement or incorrect reporting? Anyone else have thoughts?

As AK was a Park employee, I believe he absolutely established his tent and camp at his reserved backcountry site, 6D8. I believe he took his sleeping bag on the daytrip to summit Eagle Peak but never successfully returned to 6D8.

When media references say his tent/camp was located SE of Eagle Peak, that is for-sure his reserved 6D8 campsite. After encountering the backcountry Ranger on his route-in, I don't believe he would have camped outside his established site and regulations. It would be interesting if we could learn more about his camp: if his bear bag was still hung on the pole, if everything was in-order, his consumed vs provisioned food for the exit, was water filtering or headlamp/flashlight gear found in-camp, etc.

I marked the map below to show the location of the Ranger's post: Howell Creek Patrol cabin. It was built in the mid 1970s and protects that SE park boundary corner (faint white line).

 

[truthfinder2019]

I find it a strange statement to say the least. They all know he left the camp to go to the peak. They assumed he left to back there after the day of hike. Was the ranger hinting that he would have expected Austin to have everything with him given the possibility he would need a shelter up there ?!
Or is there sth which was not made public (yet) ???

 

[arielilane]

Greg Jackson, a former National Park Service ranger who retired in 2013 as deputy chief of national law enforcement, said there are a number of unknowns regarding King’s disappearance.

For example, King’s camp was found southeast of the peak. Why he left it is unclear.

“Under what circumstances would you leave your camp?” Jackson said. “Most people wouldn’t leave their survival supplies on purpose.”

Yellowstone hiker still missing

JACKSON — 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

www.gillettenewsrecord.com

2 hrs ago

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Wouldn't you leave behind supplies that you deemed unnecessary to bring, if you planned to hike up to a summit and then back down to your camp that same night or the next night? Or am I missing something?

Maybe he brought his sleeping bag thinking if necessary he'd just sleep under the stars for one night before returning to his camp, but he misjudged what the weather would do?

 

[RedHaus]

Wouldn't you leave behind supplies that you deemed unnecessary to bring, if you planned to hike up to a summit and then back down to your camp that same night or the next night? Or am I missing something?

Maybe he brought his sleeping bag thinking if necessary he'd just sleep under the stars for one night before returning to his camp, but he misjudged what the weather would do?

I honestly think we are all missing something. I agree with you as I stated ^, as does most of us here, I presume. Someone planning to summit a mountain would leave behind most unnecessary gear at their "base camp" to summit.

I think what we are missing is why an experienced ranger would question that very presumption... For Greg Jackson to state: “Under what circumstances would you leave your camp?” Jackson said. “Most people wouldn’t leave their survival supplies on purpose.” makes me truly wonder if we are missing something that has not yet been publicly reported.

IMHO

 

[sunspun]

I honestly think we are all missing something. I agree with you as I stated ^, as does most of us here, I presume. Someone planning to summit a mountain would leave behind most unnecessary gear at their "base camp" to summit.

I think what we are missing is why an experienced ranger would question that very presumption... For Greg Jackson to state: “Under what circumstances would you leave your camp?” Jackson said. “Most people wouldn’t leave their survival supplies on purpose.” makes me truly wonder if we are missing something that has not yet been publicly reported.

IMHO

Maybe Jackson (the experienced ranger) knows exactly what was found in AK's camp, and it included "survival supplies" (Jackson's words) that the ranger assumes AK wouldn't have duplicates of on him when he left his camp. The sleeping bag is the only thing that I know of that we were told was NOT found at the camp. So maybe water bottles and/or warm accessories, gloves, hats, etc. WERE found at the camp... whatever things he would need with him when he left camp for some amount of time. That sounds like exactly what he said anyway. But who knows, he may be going on incomplete or inaccurate info... he may not have actually seen the camp himself or known exactly what was left in it... but if we take what he said literally, I'd think he does know, so it's concerning that he said that.

 

[truthfinder2019]

Maybe we have to go back to our previous threads estimating the time it would take to go from camp 6D8 to Eagle Peak and back.
Maybe the exp ranger did quick maths. He may know that AK, not an experienced hiker, wouldn ‘t have made it on time with a return trip and would have expected him to have everything to camp higher up ?

 

[FoxxTraxx]

Maybe we have to go back to our previous threads estimating the time it would take to go from camp 6D8 to Eagle Peak and back.
Maybe the exp ranger did quick maths. He may know that AK, not an experienced hiker, wouldn ‘t have made it on time with a return trip and would have expected him to have everything to camp higher up ?

AllTrails website estimates about 15-1/2 hours for the entire hike to the top of Eagle Peak and back. That is from the Cody WY side, which is a bit longer than starting at the 6D8 campsite. Nevertheless, it would have taken AK quite a few hours to complete the hike. AllTrails.com Eagle Peak overview

 

[ch_13]

Maybe Jackson (the experienced ranger) knows exactly what was found in AK's camp, and it included "survival supplies" (Jackson's words) that the ranger assumes AK wouldn't have duplicates of on him when he left his camp. The sleeping bag is the only thing that I know of that we were told was NOT found at the camp. So maybe water bottles and/or warm accessories, gloves, hats, etc. WERE found at the camp... whatever things he would need with him when he left camp for some amount of time. That sounds like exactly what he said anyway. But who knows, he may be going on incomplete or inaccurate info... he may not have actually seen the camp himself or known exactly what was left in it... but if we take what he said literally, I'd think he does know, so it's concerning that he said that.

I wouldn't assume that Jackson knows something that isn't public. He's apparently been retired for 11 years, and I don't know if he ever even worked in Yellowstone. Would there really be someone feeding him inside information? Especially as he's apparently a journalist now: Greg Jackson

We all know the media loves to find "experts" to get some quote they can put in their article, whether or not they have direct first-hand knowledge. I wouldn't necessarily read too much in one sentence that is perhaps taken out of context. Really, I find it unlikely that AK wouldn't have carried water and cold-weather gear. We know he made it to the peak and it would have been difficult to get there without the appropriate equipment.

 

[tarabull]

DBM

 

[tarabull]

Why 7 days???

Snipped...
...King had planned a seven-day backcountry trip to summit Eagle Peak.

Search for missing hiker Austin King in Yellowstone reaches critical day 7

UPDATE on Sept. 27 @ 9:12 a.m.

www.montanarightnow.com

 

[Tomgetty]

Why 7 days???

Snipped...
...King had planned a seven-day backcountry trip to summit Eagle Peak.

Search for missing hiker Austin King in Yellowstone reaches critical day 7

UPDATE on Sept. 27 @ 9:12 a.m.

www.montanarightnow.com

Perhaps 7 days to spend his last night on the lake at Terrace Point campsite 5E2 before taking the boat shuttle back to Grant Village. He may have had to coordinate the boat return with other parties coming out of the Thorofare or Snake River/Heart Lake area. If you don't have a large party the YNP backcountry boat shuttle cost can be $270 each way...

The only other potential point of interest I've found out that way is an old gold mine, north of Eagle Pass outside of the Park. The Crouch Gold Mine prospect. Here's a video talk on the Crouch mine along with old photos.

 

[RedHaus]

Recall from my post #189 that from the SAR album of 32 images, #5 is labeled "Campsite 6D8".

So I took a very close up look at the high resolution image, and was surprised to find what could be AK's campsite.

There is no tent visible so I may be incorrect. Although the tent could just be out of sight. The image could also just be searchers resting. But not seeing any other signs of an individual campsite at Campsite 6D8, it makes me wonder.

It also seems like there may be a ranger / searcher kneeling / sitting down by the 'campsite' while others look on.

What do others' think?
IMO

 

[iamshadow21]

Yes! That is what I saw. Thank you for providing clearer imagery of it. My first thought was just the way the light plays on the rock/snow - but interesting I didn't see that color elsewhere.

There's a similar coloured patch directly below at the base of the cliff at the bottom of the image. I think it's a natural feature.

MOO