Missing Hiker Found Safe Near Little Truckee Summit

SIERRA COUNTY — A missing hiker was found safe near Little Truckee Summit after a multi-agency search effort in eastern Sierra County, according to reports from the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office and assisting agencies.

The hiker was an 83-year-old woman who had been hiking with family and friends toward old train trestles in the Tahoe National Forest, Sheriff Mike Fisher told the Sacramento Bee. Fisher said the woman, who had begun to experience cognitive impairment, became tired and decided to wait on the trail while others in the group continued ahead.

When her family and friends returned to walk back with her to Little Truckee Summit, she was gone, Fisher said. They searched the area first, then contacted the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office when they were unable to find her.

The sheriff’s office said it received the report Sunday afternoon and initiated a search in the Little Truckee Summit area. Deputies requested mutual aid as crews worked to locate the woman before conditions worsened overnight.

The search involved the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office, Nevada County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue, Tahoe Nordic Search & Rescue, and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, according to a Nevada County Sheriff’s Office post. The Sacramento Bee reported Sierra County also requested support from the U.S. Forest Service, California Highway Patrol Air Operations, and the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team, including its Raven helicopter.

The woman was reunited with her loved ones and unharmed. “We’re just thrilled that we found her, we found her quick, and there were no injuries,” Fisher told the Bee.

The incident serves as a reminder for hikers and other visitors to prepare for changing conditions in the forest. The U.S. Forest Service recommends carrying navigation tools, extra clothing, food, water, a flashlight, and a way to communicate, and telling someone where you plan to go and when you expect to return.