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Multiple Searches Underway In National Park System

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By Compiled From N... - May 8th, 2023
A search for two climbers heading for Moose's Tooth in Denali National Park was one of three searchers underway in the National Park System on Monday/NPS file

A search for two climbers heading for Moose's Tooth in Denali National Park was one of three searches underway in the National Park System on Monday/NPS file

Searches were underway Monday in three national parks, two focused on missing hikers and one on missing climbers.

Trammel Evans has been missing in Joshua Tree National Park since Friday/NPS HO

At Joshua Tree National Park in California, rangers were looking for Trammell Evans, a 25-year-old who went missing last Friday when he was supposed to be picked up after a six-day backpack in the park. The California man was dropped off at Black Rock Campground last Sunday and planned to hike from Black Rock to Geology Tour Road, then back to Black Rock via the California Riding and Hiking Trail.

Evans was said to be an experienced long-distance hiker familair with Joshua Tree. However, he did not register for a backcountry use permit, according to a park release. Rangers have contacted all 55 people that had backcountry permits in that location. 

Supporting the park staff in the search is the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the California Highway Patrol, and the U.S. Marine Corps, which has been using drones in the search.

At Glacier National Park in Montana, a search was ongoing for 19-year-old Matthew David Read, hometown unavailable, who has been missing since Friday. His vehicle was found at the trailhead of Huckleberry Trail on Sunday. He was last heard from on Friday afternoon and was thought to started his hike around noon that day. Conditions on Huckleberry Trail at the upper reaches were winter-like with snow over the trail at higher altitudes. Due to the on-going search, Huckleberry Trail was closed.

About 30 individuals were looking for Read on Monday, including members from the U.S. Border Patrol and the Flathead (Montana) County Sheriff’s office along with county search dogs. An aerial search was conducted Sunday and was to resume once weather conditions improved. Monday dawned in Glacier with rainy, overcast, and foggy conditions.

Ground and air searches were being conducted in Glacier National Park for Matthew Read/NPS HO

Meanwhile, rangers at Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska were trying to locate two overdue climbers who were last known to be in the vicinity of the Moose’s Tooth, a 10,300-foot mountain in the park’s Ruth Gorge.

Eli Michel, 34, of Columbia City, Indiana, and Nafiun Awal, 32, of Seattle, Wwashington, were last heard from at 5 a.m. Friday after they checked in with a friend via an InReach satellite communication device. At that time, the climbers indicated they intended to climb the West Ridge route of the Moose’s Tooth. Concerned when the two climbers did not check in again, the reporting party contacted Denali National Park mountaineering rangers in Talkeetna on Sunday morning.

An initial search of the area found the team’s unattended tent, as well as ski tracks heading to the base of the route. At that point, rangers located the team’s cache of skis where they had switched to crampons for the ascent. Boot tracks then continued high on the West Ridge into a recent small slab avalanche. No other tracks were observed on Sunday.

An aerial search Monday was focused on the highly crevassed runout zone. A ground search was expected to be limited due to crevasse danger and overhead hazard. 

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