BEND, OR -- A hiker missing since Saturday evening has been found safe near South Sister. Deschutes County Search and Rescue teams returned to the area, Monday morning, to resume efforts to find 38-year-old Gerald Derrickson.
Just after 11:30 a.m., trail runners reported seeing Derrickson on the Wickiup Plains Trail, about a mile and a half from the Devil’s Lake Trailhead. They told DCSO they recognized him from flyers posted in the area. The runners said he was cold and thirsty but otherwise OK, and provided him with water and a sweatshirt. SAR volunteers met up with Derrickson and helped guide him out under his own power.
They believe he mistakenly left the climbers trail during his descent, going farther into the Three Sisters Wilderness. Derrickson, who recently moved to Portland from Delaware, did not have a light or GPS device with him during his hike.
