Visually impaired, tho experienced.

Anyone in the area is requested to keep an eye out for Ken.

He was last seen on the AT on Sunday at Punchbowl Mountain, Blue Ridge Parkway, mile 51.7, in the area of Buchanan and Bedford, Virginia.



link
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/...t=165712#165712

Nice pun!

There's been more than one occasion where I've lost the trail on the AT and I have pretty good vision. I can't imagine being visually impaired and trying to do it.

I hope this ends well.

Well, I think Ken is smart enough to stay put, once he realized he was lost. Its just a matter of time now...I just hope he isnt injured somehow. Or worse. I will keep an eye on this....

I'm waiting for a callback from SAR. I've hiked with Ken in the UP of Michigan, the Tetons and in Missouri. He's a cantankerous, stubborn guy who's hiked about 500 miles of the AT. He can see fuzzily to about 15', but can only see clearly (enough to read) out to about 1'.

He takes forever on the trail, swears a lot, thrashes through the brush, but keeps on chugging. I just hope he didn't fall off a cliff.

The fact that he missed his flight worries me a lot.

Was wondering something very interesting. Since most folks have a cell phone, and since text msgs take less to transmit, and can sometimes go thru when calls can't, has anyone experimented with sending a text msg to a site knowing someone is always on it...say someone's home email. I've sent photos from my phone to my email and downloaded them onto my computer, so I can't see why this wouldn't work. In fact, as soon as I'm done with this reply, I'll try it and see if I can post to this website, or at least send a text to my home email. If successful, all it would take, assuming you're familiar with texting to begin with, is to tell someone, preferably 2-3 people, to check their emails regularly while your out in the wilderness. Also, take a spare fully charged battery with you when you go also. I do that with my digital camera as well.

Took me a while to figure out how to do it. But sent an email to my home acct from my cell phone and it went thru in about 15 seconds. Now I'll try to log onto this site and see if I can send anything that way. Of course that is under ideal conditions.
Tried logging onto website but got a "document too large" error.
I'm using a standard Samsung camera phone, no iPhone or anything. I suppose the iPhone would be better equipped to handle logging onto this page, but at least I know how to email someone if need be. I also text all the time, so that is not the issue. Just have to keep in mind all the options when trying to communicate when voice is not an option.

A couple of things would give me hope:

1) thru-hikers are working their way north so if he's near the trail someone should be along.

2) the weather has warmed, nights are not cooling off as much in the mid-Atlantic. Based on our temps in DC and adjacent to Shenandoah National Park in the northern section of the Blue Ridge, I'd guess his overnight low temps have been in the 40s on the AT.

I hope he's okay. We've had considerable rain the past couple days, so it would be slippery on the rocks. Thanks for posting the information.

Statewide SAR callout for 7am, Friday, May 1.

Otter Creek campground, Blue Ridge Parkway mile post 60, near Glasgow, Virginia.

jaywalke - Probably a little late for this now, but suggest to SAR maybe they can try cell broadcasting in the area. From my understanding, all current U.S. cell systems are capable of this feature. Might even be able to do this with SMS with higher bandwidth.

If they are able to do it, let me know.