Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Wade Brunette

Hi Richard and Mike talked with an older person(73 his first name Wade) yesterday afternoon , he is not down yet any other hikers see him last night or today on the main trail he was doing a dayhike? Thanks Doug

If this doesn't turn out well, I'm going to have a hard time getting it off of my mind...

I wouldn't have bothered you with it (I know you have to deal with way too much of this.) if I didn't think it was a SAR waiting to happen. Why didn't I do something while I was up there? At least try and convince him to turn around?

Richard you cannot be responsible for everyone on the trail . I talk with everyone I meet , if only to say hello . I saw someone on saturday going very slowly and asked if he was ok . I got a positive response , he was definately 70'ish !
I think a conversation and enquiry about there well being is good . However if someone seems confused and obviously not looking too good , I would spend some time with them and perhaps talk them into doing it another day .
When all is said and done you cannot physically remove someone against their will .

I've been concerned about this ever since I first read it moments after you posted it and spent a great deal of time before bed last night thinking about this gentleman. From my e-mails to and from buddies from this site, I know this man is in their thoughts and prayers. Please keep us posted.

Hi I talked with his wife about 7AM and he was not back, checked the parking lot and his car is still in the lot I then reported to the dispatch he had not moved the car and no trail reports , at 11 AM several hikers came down and said they did not see him yesterday or today . Search and Rescue at the Portal now. Thanks Doug

I (as are everyone else on the board) am praying that this turns out ok.

Come down Safe Wade..

Weather up there not too good today per DMatt's forecast, huh? 100mph winds at the crest or something like that as I recall?

Praying for Wade's safe return.
Concerned about the safety of the SAR's team that's out there looking for him.
Hoping for a good outcome soon.

Please keep us posted Doug...thank you.

Praying for a good outcome.......................DUG

I talked to Inyo SAR a little while ago. I hope they find him ok.

If he carried SPOT I'm sure he would have pushed the button.

Sent a text to all asking for everyone to pray for the safe return of Wade. Can't have to many prayers.

A big thanks to SAR for always putting their life on the line.

Doug, did his wife have any idea how he was equipped or what his experience level was in snow/ice? If I'm reading this right, he's now 3 days and 2 nights on the mountain in winter conditions, presumably equipped for just a dayhike, and with no one having reported seeing him since Richard on Sunday? This is not good. We need a whole lotta thoughts and prayers generated for Wade.

Thanks for keeping us informed - and please continue to do so!

Hey Doug... I was one of the two hikers who came down this morning at 11 or after summiting yesterday afternoon. As we said there was no sign of him. Please keep us informed. Hope for the best.

On the way up we mostly stuck to the trail.
We left yesterday at 8am from Outpost. So if he was on the trail then we would have seen him. There was a group of 6 or so hikers coming down past outpost at around 630pm on sunday, wonder if any of them saw him?

The wind picked up around 9pm last night and really blew. It did calm a bit this morning though

I'll be praying for Wade.

Is crabtree ranger station manned this time of year?
You know what happens when someone takes the wrong turn at trail crest.

Rob Pilewski and his wife walked out via Meysan on 09/25/09.

Is it possible he could be hunkered down at the Crabtree station if he took a left at Trail Crest instead of a right? What is that - 5 miles down the JMT? Any traffic along there the past couple of days?

Exactly what I was thinking Bulldog, bet there is no one along that trail this time of year.

The Crabtree station and the summit hut are the only reasonably accessible shelters in that area, right? For a dayhiker in trouble without overnight winter equipment, those would be the primary targets for survival - to my thinking anyway. Presumably he would have been noticed at the summit hut. Just not a lot of other options if his car is still at the Portal lot.

I get a chill down my back whenever I look at the current webcam shot and think of someone in distress up on the mountain.

I've been following this & watching the cam pics. It's getting ugly, for both our hiker & SAR. I hope this ends well.