Portland couple gets lost on Mt. Jefferson Wilderness camping trip; Jefferson Co. SAR comes to rescue

Pair lost trail as heavy snow fell; found wet, shivering in tent

CAMP SHERMAN, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Portland couple who camped south of Three-Fingered Jack in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness Area Friday night lost the trail as heavy snowfall moved in during their departure Saturday, prompting a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue effort that took about 10 hours.

The sheriff’s office got a call around 5:30 p.m. from the couple needing assistance, according to Sgt. David Pond, SAR coordinator for Jefferson County.

The weather was “looking kind of poor,” so the couple broke camp and were walking back out to their vehicle parked a trailhead, but got off trail and became lost, Pond said Sunday. They found a spot with cellphone service and called 911, where dispatchers were able to use the phone’s GPS coordinates to determine where they were.

Pond said they were asked if they could see a creek in the area, which is First Creek, and were advised to follow it upstream amid heavy snowfall. Pond said he got their call and had them call dispatch to again determine their coordinates, in the area of Booth Lake.

Pond said he and four other SAR members hiked in on the Pacific Crest Trail – and they, too, lost the trail at times, in areas of four feet of snow with drifts, blowing snow and freezing temperatures.

They traveled cross-country to find the couple, who Pond said had hung headlamps on flash strobe and were found inside their tent, “shivering – everything they had was wet.” The rescue team got the couple warmed up and they changed into dry clothes before assisting them in a hike out to the trailhead. The operation ended around 3 a.m. Sunday.

“Normally, we’ll tell you to stay put, but since we knew where they were and could provide geographical landmarks,” they were advised to reach a more accessible location, Pond said.