By Hannah Guillaume
Frontiersman
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Sean Smith-Kearon, 23, of Fort Edward, New York, hiked to Mint Glacier where he became lost, fell and slid down Bomber Glacier. He then ate a porcupine to survive, said Kym Miller, a Hatcher Pass park ranger.
“He was just way in over his head,” she said. “We wish he'd have been able to read a map.”
Smith-Kearon wore warm clothing and survived because he was in top-physical condition after his recent tour in Iraq, Miller said.
Alaska State Trooper HELO-1, Alaska Mountain Rescue volunteers and Alaska Search and Rescue Dogs responded Saturday, according to trooper reports released on Sunday.
“He told his cousin [Michael Zuyus] he would be back around 3 o'clock,” said Megan Peters, a trooper spokeswoman.
Zuyus, 36, of Palmer told troopers that his cousin called to say he would be five or six hours late, Peters said. At 5:42 a.m. on Saturday, Zuyus called troopers to help search.
Searchers discovered Smith-Kearon had written a message in the log book at the Bomber Hut that said he was a “mis-orientated hiker” and was heading downstream, she said. He couldn't read the topographical map at the hut, and Smith-Kearon told her he didn't realize he was on a glacier when he began falling and sliding down Bomber.
The search party followed clues of his passing and discovered Smith-Kearon at 4 p.m. on Bartholf Creek a mile from the Kashwitna River Confluence, Miller said. He would have had to hike 32 more miles to reach the Parks Highway near Talkeetna had he not been found.
“He was in terrible country - big, high bushes over his head,” she said. “He did take really good care of himself out there - in that he stayed alive.”
Smith-Kearon reported no injuries, according to trooper reports. Miller said he doesn't have to pay for the helicopter-search crew.
Hikers that head off trails should know how to read topographical maps, navigate glaciers and have experience in the terrain they go for, Miller said. “We're just really to glad we found him in good shape.”
Contact Hannah Guillaume at 352-2284 or hannahguillaume@yahoo.com.
Comments
10 comment(s)Rosemary wrote on Jan 14, 2009 9:58 AM:
Student Rosemary M
9th:) "
alaska wrote on Nov 25, 2008 10:10 AM:
jane wrote on Sep 11, 2008 10:18 AM:
floridian wrote on Sep 5, 2008 1:23 PM:
Please, please take the bee hived, moose queen back to Alaska, back to her husband and kids she does not care about, AND KEEP HER!!
The US DOES NOT NEED another liar in the White House, or for the matter, anywhere in the DC Area.
Keep your moose queen Alaska!! She never quite tells the whole story which is too much like the current Bush administration. Gross! Gross! Gross! Both of you. "
April Taylor family wrote on Aug 15, 2008 2:38 PM:
bob wrote on Mar 18, 2008 11:13 AM:
akfjk wrote on Feb 21, 2008 12:50 PM:
Gloria Hafemeister wrote on Feb 19, 2008 3:08 PM:
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Annie Frank wrote on Nov 9, 2007 8:14 AM: