PORT ANGELES — An Olympic National Park spokeswoman said that despite coming at the end of the summer season when staff and rescue equipment are difficult to find, personnel jumped into action Tuesday to search for a lost hiker who spent three nights in the wilderness.
Brian David Gawley, 39, of Port Angeles was found Wednesday afternoon by rangers searching from a helicopter in the Boulder Creek area.
Once searchers entered the woods at about 7 a.m., it took about seven hours to find Gawley.
“Rescuers started from scratch,” said park spokeswoman Barb Maynes, who added that a park fire crew had just returned from another assignment and was sent back out in the field after one night at home.
Gawley did not leave behind a note and didn’t tell friends or family where he was going or for how long, which required that rangers search every trailhead in the area for his car.
Gawley was recuperating at Olympic Medical Center on Thursday. He said he mostly felt sore.
“Just some of the effects of hiking 10 to 12 hours a day for three days,” he said.
Gawley was reported missing Tuesday afternoon by co-workers when he failed to show up for work for the second day in a row.
