Story Updated: Oct 4, 2010 at 2:52 PM PDT

Grangeville – A Lucile man, Todd Hofflander, 40, was still missing Saturday, after he went on a hike between Windy Saddle and McCaffee Cabin Tuesday and did not arrive by noon Tuesday as anticipated.

Some of the party he was with hiked a few miles up the trail, but were unsuccessful in finding him.

Back Country Medics out of Orofino have been assisting in the search. A helicopter and pilot from Hillcrest Aircraft Co. returned to the rugged area southwest of Riggins Friday to assist the Idaho County Sheriff's Department by shuttling searchers and doing grid searches for Hofflander.

Back Country flew grid searches of Bernard Creek, Bills Creek, Lightning Creek, the east and west branches of Sheep Creek, McCaffee Basin and Bear Basin.

An Incident Command post was set up at Heavens Gate Lookout and is being manned by personnel from the sheriff's departments of Idaho and Clearwater counties. A meeting was scheduled to discuss plans for Saturday’s operations. Back Country Medics will be returning to the area Saturday as requested.

In addition to other ground searchers from throughout the region, dog teams from both Idaho and Clearwater counties' Search and Rescue teams have been working to find Hofflander.

Officials say the search is challenging due to the very rough, steep terrain with elevations that vary from 8,000 to 1,500 feet above sea level in short distances. The area is between Riggins and Snake River's Hells Canyon.


http://mapper.acme.com/
STARTING: N45.349509 W116.512113
GOAL: N45.40083 W116.61279

The terrain bodes ill will for Hofflander. If he takes one wrong fork, he is caught in a gravity trap that flows out Sheep Creek. That is one nasty survival hike. A week has passed. He must focus on water and one step at a time. If he is forced nown Sheep Creek, his odds are poor.