New Jersey hiker rescued up the North Fork
A 21-year-old New Jersey man spent several days up the Whale Creek drainage in the North Fork before being found by the Two Bear rescue helicopter.
According to Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry, the man’s vehicle got stuck on Thursday, May 21.
Unable to free the vehicle, he set off on foot at around 3 p.m. that day. He was reported missing Friday.
The U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Forest Service, North Valley Search and Rescue and the Sheriff’s Office assembled a search team on Saturday morning. They found his vehicle that day, but the man was nowhere to be seen.
The Two Bear Air helicopter finally located the man after midnight. The man used the light of his cell phone to draw the pilot in, and Two Bear used night-vision imagery to zero in on him.
According to the sheriff’s office, the man was traveling through heavy timber and steep terrain, and he had lost his shoes. Other than dehydration, however, he was in good condition.
Two Bear evacuated the man and brought him back to the staging area, where he was assessed by search and rescue personnel.