Official INYO-SEKI SAR / Overdue Hiker (Resolved)

[maverick]

After receiving the above information, I have a diifficult time believing that Robert planned to hike out from Barrett Lakes, over one of the 3 passes, thru Dusy Basin, over Bishop Pass, and down to South Lake on Sunday at 74 years old, especially with the impending weather conditions.

Have any SPOT owners sent "OK" messages from a location and found out later that the location was wrong and off by miles? Could a storm have impacted the location reading?

A question for those of you who are experienced backpackers in your late 60's and early 70's, where would you have camped the night before your exit out in this situation, especially if you knew that a major storm was due in?

Snow fell on Saturday, he sent his 'OK" Saturday night, would he not have tried to get as close as possible to Bishop Pass or over the pass before Sunday?

[maverick]

SEKI Public Affairs,

If Roberts tent was damaged during the Saturday night and storm continued to get worse into Sunday, Robert needed to find cover to get out of the elements as much as possible. Barrett Lakes does not offer such, it is pretty barren, but there is some tree cover at around 10500 ft of Barrett Creek, as it starts its plunge down towards Deer Meadow, which is where I would, and have waited out a storm before.
It is reported that he was familiar with this area, so he may have been aware of this and something happened to him on the way there or in that small forested section.


Members and Outdoor Communities,

We are hoping that someone from the family or friend may be chiming in sometime today, his sons have been out with Inyo SAR searching. Those of you, and I know their are many, who are intimately familiar with the Barrett Lakes area, please voice your ideas on what you would have done, where you would have gone in this case.

[maverick]

SAR is requesting information on the weather conditions in the area starting Fri thru Sun. We have that video footage posted earlier, but they are requesting confirmation on when the snow started to fall, how much fell each day, and how windy the conditions were on each day. Thank you for any information on this subject matter that you may be able to provide here.

[seanr]

Have any SPOT owners sent "OK" messages from a location and found out later that the location was wrong and off by miles?

Yes; the location has been significantly wrong extremely rarely, but yes it has happened to me. However, I have never had my location not eventually be accurate in cases where I successfully sent more than one message. I would be surprised if messages had trouble getting through in that area unless the batteries were low or unless the user was physically unable to continue activating the device. With my Spot Gen 3, I have sometimes had spotty message activation in forest cover and canyons. My original Spot Gen 1 was reliable enough in comparison that I was comfortable trying the updated model.


Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[maverick]

Thank you for chiming in with that information Sean, much appreciated.

[maverick]

SEKI is requesting anyone who was out in the Bishop Pass, Dust basin, Barrett Lakes area, and you saw or did not see Robert between the 13th-16th, they need you to chime in with that info.

[oleander]

I use a Spot Generation 3. Maybe 10-15% of the time, the "OK" check-in message fails to send, usually because of heavy tree cover. However, for the "OK" messages that do get transmitted successfully, I've never once noticed it showing an incorrect position (more than 1/10 of a mile off).

If he had tracking on: My once-every-10-minute tracking locations are sometimes off, because of tree cover or because the unit has gone upside-down in my pack. In those cases, the transmission can bounce off a ridge a mile or two away, making it look as if I've climbed a massive ridge in 10 minutes (and then retreated to my original location in the next 10 minutes).

[maverick]

Thank you Oleander for taking the time to supply this information, much appreciated.

[maverick]

New information from this flyer is that he was planning to fish Barrett Lakes.

[maverick]

SEKI NP:

CONTACT: Zach Behrens, 559-565-3131 (o) or 559-679-2866 (c)

Search Continues for Missing Hiker Robert “Bob” Woodie

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Calif. -- As the search for Robert “Bob” Woodie continues, park officials are requesting that any hiker who was in the search area since Thursday, October 13, 2016, to reach out with information.

“Even if they do not think they saw Mr. Woodie, information about where he wasn't seen is also very important in directing our search efforts,” explained Rich Browne, Incident Commander for the search and rescue operation. “All information is helpful to our investigation. We currently have over 60 personnel and 2 helicopters assigned to the search incident.”

The search area consists of Bishop Pass, Dusy Basin, Barrett Lakes, and the John Muir Trail/Pacific Crest Trail for the length of Le Conte Canyon. The area is a high sierra alpine environment, between approximately 8,000 and 12,000 feet elevation. The rugged terrain includes areas of forest, alpine lakes, and areas above tree line with talus slopes and rocky mountain passes.

Mr. Woodie was reported missing after not returning from a four-day backpacking trip into the wilderness of Kings Canyon National Park. His intended route of travel may have been from South Lake, outside Bishop, CA, into the park via Bishop Pass starting on Thursday, October 13, 2016. He was possibly at Barrett Lakes, southeast of Dusy Basin, on the evening of Saturday, October 15, 2016, based on an electronic check-in message received from his satellite message device. The area experienced some inclement weather during this timeframe, with some areas above about 10,500 ft receiving snow. Overnight temperatures continue to be below freezing.

Mr. Woodie, a 74-year-old from Manhattan Beach, CA, is an experienced hiker who is familiar with the area. He is caucasian with brown hair and brown eyes and is 5’5” and around 150 pounds. He was possibly carrying a blue shell type jacket, baseball cap or floppy hat, and boots. He is reported to have an internal frame backpack, possibly blue in color.

This search and rescue incident is being coordinated with the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department, which is simultaneously performing search operations adjacent to the park boundary within Inyo National Forest. Yosemite Search and Rescue and Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team are assisting in the operation within Kings Canyon National Park.