A hiker in northern Washington’s North Cascades National Park was rescued a month after going missing in July, officials announced Saturday, and one rescuer believed it was barely in time.
Robert Schock, 39, was last seen by other hikers in a park area on July 31 and did not have any overnight gear, according to a statement from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office to CNN.
He was recovered and transported to a hospital on August 30, according to officials.
“When our crew found Robert, he was able to communicate to them that he had been immobile, stuck in that exact spot for approximately two weeks,” said Jeff Kish, executive director of the non-profit Pacific Northwest Trail Association, in a Facebook post about the rescue late Wednesday.
The search took nearly a month.
On August 3, park officials contacted deputies about an abandoned vehicle near the Hannegan Pass trailhead. According to the statement, they also discovered a dog believed to be Schock’s 8 miles distant on a trail along the Chilliwack River.
Deputies who responded to the scene over the next three days discovered the vehicle with its windows rolled down and Schock’s wallet on the dashboard, according to the sheriff’s office.
On August 7, park officials investigated the isolated area on the ground multiple times and joined deputies in a helicopter search, but they discovered no leads to Schock’s whereabouts.
The US Border Patrol’s helicopter search of Chilliwack Basin on August 16 and ground search of the area where the dog was discovered yielded no results, authorities said.
“On August 30, WCSO deputies were notified by National Parks Service rangers that Schock was located in the Chilliwack Basin, alive and well,” the sheriff’s office stated.
Hiker is alive but ‘not well’.
Kish stated on Facebook that when his Pacific Northwest Trail Association crew discovered Schock, he disagreed with the official statement about his condition.
“Robert was found alive, but not well,” Kish wrote. “It is the belief of those who came to be involved in the rescue that Robert may have only had another day left in him before the outcome of his discovery would have been much more tragic.”
According to Kish, the non-profit group was working on rebuilding a trail that had been devastated by flames in 2022 when they discovered Schock. They were returning to camp after a hard day when they noticed a “barely discernible” sound near the Chilliwack River as they crossed it, he added.
“It was not readily apparent that they had heard a person, but their intuition was to take the time to investigate, just in case,” says Kish.
CNN affiliate KIRO reports that the squad overheard Schock yelling for rescue.
According to Kish, the crew discovered Schock about a half-mile off the trail along the river’s bank, “laid out and exposed to the elements,” adding that “his situation was dire.”
According to Kish, the squad offered crucial help to Schock for several hours before rescue teams came and transported him to a hospital.
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