According to weather.com it's currently around 60 degrees, at night around 40. That's cool but survivable? No rain indicated for today and onwards.
Could he be lost, or is it more likely that something happened to him? An accident, a medical episode?
https://weather.com/en-IN/weather/today/l/45.54,-121.57?par=google
It's so hard to rule a medical episode out completely. Since he's an experienced hiker, he would have prepped for this hike. Unless he was impaired by injury or another condition (hypothermia), he shouldn't have gotten lost. Here's his instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/nate_mitchell83/
You can see the storm arriving in his photos from that day.
Here's the Oregon Hikers entry on the trailhead:
http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Wildwood_Recreation_Area_Trailhead
With the photos, SAR should be able to place him along the trail with some good accuracy.
As further background, here's a trip report on the Boulder Ridge - Plaza - Bonanza Loop Trail that would be one good choice for a day hike from the Wildwood parking area:
http://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20619
Heres a topo map showing the trails on and around Huckleberry Mountain (couldn't embed):
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2565/4006943081_8a90898551_o.jpg
The most recent photo on Nate's instagram was id'd by hikers as likely being either at the junction of Boulder Ridge and Plaza trails or a bit further on descending from Huckleberry Mountain to the Bonanza Trail. The trip reports show an open mine shaft (Bonanza) on the trail that you could apparently enter and walk into several years ago (not sure of the condition today). I wouldnt think that would necessarily be of great interest to a hiker unless he were into caves. I'd assume SAR checked that out.
His instagram shows that he enjoyed taking some gorgeous waterfall photos (which one should enjoy when hiking in Oregon). If you take the Bonanza trail off Huckleberry Mountain, youll walk along Cheeney Creek, which reportedly has several small waterfalls along the trail. It looks as though theres also a short trail following the creek up to the headwaters, or, alternatively, up to an adjacent summit. Cheeney Creek feeds into the Salmon River, and following Bonanza Trail down to the River provides a few options for completing the loop.
If it were me, Id plan on getting an early start to hike up and enjoy the view from Huckleberry Mountain, then take my time exploring the Cheeney Creek area on down to the river. If the storm moved in when he was approaching Huckleberry Mountain, hed have 3 choices: turning around, moving over the rocky overview area (where hed get hammered with rain / sleet / wind) to the Bonanza Trail (reportedly in good condition but has some rugged elevation changes), or attempting to shortcut the route back by taking the former Plaza Trail northeast, then cutting down to the Salmon River (which several hikers report doing despite it being only quasi-official).
If I had to guess, Id say he kept going toward Bonanza and Cheeney Creek, got caught in the storm, slipped, fell and was injured somewhere near the top of the Bonanza Trail. An alternative might be that he tried walking up Cheeney Creek.
I have faith in the SAR team, but I'm worried about the amount of time that has passed. His instagram is full of beautiful images from his hikes. I sure hope he can continue to share that with everyone.
