Missing Glacier Park hikers found alive
Two Virginia veterinarians missing in Glacier National Park’s backcountry for five days have been found alive, park spokeswoman Denise Germann said Monday afternoon.
“They’ve just been located,” Germann said at about 4:15 p.m. Monday. “They are alive. Early indication is that they are doing well.”
Searchers found Neal Peckens, 32, of Herndon, Va., and Jason Hiser, 32, of Richmond, Va., around 3:30 p.m. They were flown out of the backcountry and met family members “anxiously awaiting their return,” according to a press release from Glacier.
Peckens and Hiser were reported missing on Friday after they missed a flight back to the East Coast.
They had been in the park backcountry for seven days since Oct. 9.
According to their backcountry permit, the men planned to hike Oct. 9-10 from the North Shore Trailhead at Two Medicine to the Oldman Backcountry Campground, then to Pitamakan Pass and along the Continental Divide to Dawson Pass and back to Two Medicine.
The entire trail loop is about 17 miles long.
The Associated Press, reporting from Hagerstown, Md., said Peckens and Hiser are veterinarians who are strong, experienced outdoorsmen, according to relatives and co-workers.
Hiser and Peckens had taken several hiking trips to other western national parks in the past four years, said Hiser’s mother, Sandy, of La Vale, Md.
“I’m just relying on the strength from my friends and family and doing a lot of praying and hoping that it’s God’s will that these young men will be rescued,” she said in a telephone interview.
As many as 50 people on foot and horseback, along with a specialized dog team, had been searching the Two Medicine backcountry on the park’s east side.
Searchers found a recently used fire ring and some tracks Sunday that suggested the men may have gone off trail in wintry conditions that included snow 18 inches deep.
Aerial operations were limited over the weekend due to low visibility and extremely windy conditions.
Sandy Hiser said Peckens’ wife, Deborah, arrived Sunday in Montana and was keeping the families updated.
Peckens’ aunt Kathy Stiles in Boonsboro, Md., told The Hagerstown Herald-Mail on Sunday that Peckens was an experienced hiker.
“We have a lot of prayers and people giving us positive thoughts,” she said.
Both men are originally from western Maryland — Peckens from Boonsboro and Hiser from La Vale. They met at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in Blacksburg, Va., Stiles said. Both are married.
At the Broad Street Veterinary Hospital in Richmond, where Hiser is an associate veterinarian, clients have been calling to offer prayers and assistance, administrator der Au Michael said.
“We’re all just trying to stay strong for him. He is a very athletic individual, very strong as well. And we know he’s coming home,” she said.
Peckens is a cardiologist with Chesapeake Veterinary Cardiology Associates. He works out of offices in Vienna and Springfield, Va., according to the group’s website.
Germann posted the news Monday on Glacier Park's Facebook page and within less than an hour there were more than 600 comments — most reveling in the good news about the hikers.
Organizations assisting Glacier National Park with the search include Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Flathead County Search and Rescue, North Valley Search and Rescue, Flathead Emergency Aviation Resources and the U.S. Border Patrol.