Searchers Find Lost Mtn. Biker West of Bend

Nearly two dozen searchers fanned out in the darkness west of Bend and found a lost mountain biker near the city?s Bridge Creek watershed early Tuesday morning, officials said.

Deschutes County sheriff?s deputies and Sheriff?s Search and Rescue were dispatched around 9 p.m. Monday to a report of a lost mountain biker near the Flagline Trail and the city watershed, said sheriff?s Deputy Rhett Hemphill.

Ted Andrew Werner, 34, of Bend, told rescuers he had begun his mountain bike trip earlier Monday from the Tumalo Falls trailhead, with plans of doing a loop on the Flagline trail and ending up back where he started.

But as he was heading east on the trail, north of Tumalo Mountain, Werner said he lost the trail and ended up going downhill, into the Bridge Creek drainage of Tumalo Creek, Hemphill said.

Once Werner realized he was lost, he called 911, at which time his GPS location was transmitted to the county dispatchers, the deputy said.

A total of 23 SAR members responded and began searching for Werner, on foot and by ATV.

He was found around 2 a.m. by a ground team, north of the Flagline Trail, Hemphill said. he was cold and hungry, but otherwise unhurt.

Werner was taken back to a nearby trailhead, then back to Bend, where he was reunited with his family, Hemphill said.