Two hikers from Charlotte were found unharmed at around 1 a.m. Sunday after they were separated from their hiking party around noon Saturday in the Wilson Creek area of northwestern Caldwell County.
Ryan Baltz, 25, and Thomas Gilewski, 25, were hiking with a nine-person party when they disappeared from the group in the Wilson Creek and Harper Creek area, according to officials with Caldwell County Emergency Services.
Baltz and Gilewski were reported missing by their companions around 11 p.m. Saturday. A multi-agency search party was assembled and had just begun searching for the men, when the two hikers ran into searchers about one tenth of mile from where they had gotten separated, just before 1 a.m. The men told officials they had gotten lost.
“In that remote and rugged area of Wilson’s Creek, it’s easy to get turned around,” said Ken Teague, Caldwell County assistant emergency management coordinator, in a media release. “Even if you are familiar with those trails, you can easily take a wrong turn that will send you all the way around the mountain. It appears that is what happened to these men.”
Officials were in the process of calling in additional search crews when the men were found. Both men were unharmed and declined medical attention.
Searchers from the Collettsville, Kings Creek, Patterson and Valmead fire departments joined in the search along with members of the North Catawba Fire and Rescue squad, Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office and Caldwell Emergency Management.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement