PEARFISH — A 21-year-old Aberdeen man was found cold but safe Sunday morning when he spent the night on Crow Peak after searchers were unable to locate him on Saturday.
Spearfish Fire Chief Wallace White said the Spearfish Volunteer Fire Department received a call at 9:30 p.m. Saturday to assist in the search for a missing 21-year-old male, thought to be hiking in the Crow Peak area. The individual had hiked to the top of Crow Peak earlier in the day and had left the trail on the way back down, said White.
“The subject called 911 and advised the dispatcher that he thought he was on the west side of Crow Peak on a logging trail and could not find his way back to the Crow Peak trailhead,” White said.
Because the hiker was on the west side of the mountain, the 911 call went to Crook County Dispatch in Wyoming, which was unable to get a GPS tracking location from the cell phone, according to White.
“The subject's cell phone battery was going dead so conversations between him and the fire department were limited to 5 to 15 seconds per call,” said the fire chief. “The subject would call approximately every 30 to 45 minutes as his battery would allow.”
Search crews hiked to the top of Crow Peak to look for tracks left by the hiker but their progress was hampered by snow that was over three feet deep at times. Crews finally located the hiker's tracks, but they led into very rough terrain with no snow cover on the west side of the mountain and searchers were unable to continue, said Wallace.
The search was called off around 4 a.m. Sunday morning, and a South Dakota Highway Patrol aircraft was requested at that time. Crews resumed the search at 7 a.m. Sunday, according to White.
“The individual was found by retired firefighter Stuart Williams at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Sunday on the south side of Crow Peak,” said White.
The missing hiker, identified as Tyler Fischer of Aberdeen, was brought to the Crow Peak trailhead where he was met by an ambulance. The hiker was cold but did not have any injuries and was released.
In addition to 15 members of the Spearfish Fire Department, Lawrence County Emergency Management, the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office, Spearfish Ambulance, South Dakota Dept. of Game & Fish and the South Dakota Highway Patrol assisted in the search.
White said this weekend's incident, as well as the search last weekend for a missing hunter and his son in the Nemo area serves as a reminder for those heading out into the snow-covered Black Hills to let somebody else know where they are headed, and an approximate time of return.
“We recommend that anyone going out in the Hills either know the area real well or have a map of the trail system,” said White. “And make sure they have a fully charged cell phone with them.”
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