A 21-year-old backpacker who had been reported missing since Thursday in the John Muir Wilderness in eastern Fresno County has been found alive. Adam Thomas Johnston, of Santa Barbara, was found on the Piute Pass Trail in Inyo County this afternoon at approximately 1:30 p.m. The Fresno County Sherrif's Office indicated that Johnston was found at a trail block, which had been set up at the boundary of the search area. Johnston was reportedly in good condition.
SAR personnel plan to camp overnight with Johnston in the remote area, and he will be transported out of the wilderness tomorrow morning by Eagle One, the Fresno County Sheriff Department's helicopter.
Johnston had last been seen around 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Cony Lake hiking in a northeasterly direction toward Humphreys Lakes. He was carrying gear and provisions for five total days of backpacking.
Johnston was reported missing by his father and a family friend on Sunday. The three began backpacking together from Bishop, California, a week ago, and had been hiking in the area around Mount Humphreys. Johnston separated from the other two backpackers on Thursday, agreeing to meet them later at a specified location. When Johnston failed to arrive, the two hiked out to Bishop to report him overdue.
Ground SAR operations had been under way since late Sunday afternoon and were joined by aerial searchers from the Fresno County Sheriff Department early yesterday morning. A command post had been established at Edison Lake. The search was focused on several hundred square miles of remote terrain in the John Muir Wilderness at an elevation around 11,000 feet.
The Piute Pass Trail on which Johnston was found is a well-traveled trail in the John Muir Wilderness above 9,000 feet of elevation. The trailhead is approximately 20 miles northwest of Bishop, and the trail takes hikers into the southern portion of the Humphreys Lakes basin.
The John Muir Wilderness encompasses 584,000 acres in the Sierra and Inyo National Forests from Mammoth Lakes southeastward to the boundary of Kings Canyon National Park and into the Crown Valley and Mount Whitney areas. Portions of the nearly 100 miles of Sierra Nevada crest in the John Muir Wilderness range from 4,000 to 14,496 feet of elevation, with many peaks above 13,000 feet.
Sources: Fresno Bee, San Jose Mercury News
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