Hiker missing near Skunk Harbor in Lake Tahoe found Sunday morning

A call was made to Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) 911 on Saturday, September 8 at approximately 3:30 p.m., alerting them of a missing man in his 60s at Lake Tahoe. The caller, the man's wife, said her husband had left around noon to go hiking in the area of Skunk Harbor on the east shore of Lake Tahoe and she hadn't heard from him.

The DSCO Search and Rescue (SAR) team had just returned from locating another missing hiker in Lake Tahoe and were deployed to Skunk Harbor. They were joined by other resources and searched until 10:00 p.m. Saturday when the search was suspended due to darkness and safety for the SAR personnel.

DCSO SAR resumed their search on Sunday, September 9 at 5:45 a.m. with the assistance of Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Raven helicopter and United States Navy Search and Rescue Seahawk helicopter. The missing hiker was spotted from the air at 7:45 a.m. SAR joined him and brought him out to a meeting point at State Route 28 and Highway 50 where he received medical attention for minor cuts and bruises and reunited with his family.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind the public when enjoying recreation in the back country to limit your activities to those that do not exceed any limitations one had due to medical or physical conditions. In this case, the subject was prepared by carrying water and had knowledge of how to survive overnight in a mountain area, which absolutely contributed to this incident having a successful outcome.