Baker County Search and Rescue Responds to Lost Hiker in the Eagle Cap Wilderness
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, July 25th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER COUNTY – (Release from the Baker County Sheriff’s Office) On July 21, 2023, at approximately 7:42 a.m., Baker County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch received a report of a lost hiker in the Eagle Cap Wilderness near Crater Lake. The reporting party stated the group of four hikers was on the last day of their seven-day hiking trip when they lost sight of Peter Nye (72 yoa) of New York. The reporting party was concerned for Nye’s welfare because he was exhibiting signs of heat exhaustion the day prior. The party conducted a search of the area prior to calling 911.
Sheriff Ash deployed the Baker County Search and Rescue team. After considering the response time to the scene and the concerns regarding Nye’s physical condition, Sheriff Ash reached out to Troy Woydziak, of Baker Aircraft, who agreed to transport them to Crater Lake via helicopter.
Upon arrival at Crater Lake, Sheriff Ash and five SAR volunteers met the reporting party. The hiking group was concerned that Nye may have suffered a medical issue. During the search, they spoke with other hikers who came up the South Fork of the Imnaha but had not spotted Nye. The SAR volunteers and reporting party began a search around the entirety of Crater Lake and then continued to search to where the trail leads off and dead ends into Kettle Creek drainage.
SAR covered the upper end of the main trail on Little Kettle Creek. After exhausting search efforts in the area and ruling out Nye being in the immediate vicinity, it was determined that Nye most likely went off-trail down Kettle Creek.
During the ground search, an additional SAR volunteer traveled to East Eagle Creek Trailhead to locate the party’s vehicle and speak with campers in the area. As the remaining SAR volunteers hiked back to Crater Lake and were preparing to hike down Kettle Creek, radio traffic indicated Nye was located at the trailhead with the vehicle. Nye was in good condition. After speaking with Nye, it was determined that when departing the lake, he failed to take the Little Kettle Creek Trail and instead went down Kettle Creek, causing him to become separated from his party. Nye decided to follow the creek to the bottom of the drainage instead of walking back out the main trail.The Baker County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the dedicated Baker County Search and Rescue volunteers as well as Baker Aircraft for their assistance with this rescue.
