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Our trip organizer to Mt Whitney, Marv Cope, is missing after the one day hike we did yesterday, June 28th. He was last seen in the rocky area on the eastern side of Whitney. He might have been heading down to the valley.
Marv is 6'2'', 62 yr, has blue eyes and greyish hair. Here is a picture of him taken yesterday at the summit. If you have any information about him, please call Bryan Howard from the Inyo County Search and Rescue at 760-937-3234.
We were three people who went down by mistake on the eastern side of the mountain and got lost in the large field of boulders.
After we lost Marv, we met several groups of people who also got lost by making the same mistake.
Thanks, we'll post it there, too.
We were on the eastern side, I think we could see what I found later is Pinnacle.
After talking to the SAR, I think we were facing somewhat towards the Mountaineering Route. We saw a snow chute below us.
UPDATE: Missing hiker Marv Cope has been located alive and well near the Arctic Lake drainage area in Sequoia-Kings National Park. A big THANK YOU to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and CHP - Inland Division Air Operations!
After becoming separated from Marv, I and the third hiker started to go back up the mountain. After a few minutes we met several other groups of people who also realized they were lost and followed them. I looked at the gpx trail of my route (I've been getting accustomed to gpx only in the last couple of days) and it seems that we went on a trail that made a big detour farther west before getting back to the trail that leads to Trail Crest.
Marv kept going down by himself and he reached Arctic Lake. He suffered from cold during the night, but he managed to maintain some body heat using the Mylar blanket he had with him. Today, while the search & rescue operation was in progress, he saw a helicopter hovering in the sky. He tried to use his mirror to get their attention, but he was not noticed. He kept walking towards Guitar Lake where a group of hikers directed him to the rangers station. On his way there, he met the rescue team from Sequoia National Park. He was later flown by helicopter to Lone Pine.
I also want to say that all of us were impressed by how professional and well organized the search & rescue teams are. We were also very impressed by how many people in Lone Pine were offering their help, such as by printing the flyers that were distributed at the Portal. Everybody at the Portal was also extremely helpful and were volunteering their time to spread the information about Marv.