Marine Corps First Lt. Matthew Kraft was meant to return from his 195-mile hike in the Sierra Nevada mountains on March 4. He never did.

This Marine lieutenant is missing somewhere in the Sierra Nevada mountain range

Soon, the weather will finally allow for a thorough search of the trails to bring Matthew home — but it won't last for long.

"They were on pre-deployment leave — his unit is in the Middle East now — and he took the two weeks to plan a longer trip," said Greg Kraft, Matthew's father. "That was how he kept in shape, how he spent his spare time. He would prefer to be in the mountains and hiking and backpacking and fly fishing."

And he was no stranger to these types of environments. Kraft had completed multiple trainings in the process of commissioning as a Marine Corps officer — including winter Mountain Warfare School.

"I'm told he was the one to beat on runs and hikes. He was the fastest or the best and had the most endurance," Kraft said.

Kraft contacted authorities on March 5, after his son failed to contact him as was planned. Over the next couple of weeks, the search for Matthew included the Inyo County Sheriff's Office, the Mono County Sheriff's Office, the National Park Service, and the Marines Corps.

"The Marines went above and beyond. It wasn't a mission that they were responsible for putting together. It was time that he was on leave technically. But they've helped out."

But dangerous weather conditions complicated the search, and Matthew still has not been found. However, the time window for more favorable weather conditions will soon begin.

"There is still snow in some of the high elevations up there. They're thinking August — and there's a two-month window in August and September — before the snow starts up again. They can really go back and do more thorough recovery efforts," Kraft said.

While the Kraft's don't want to endanger anyone, they do ask that hikers in the area keep an eye out for Matthew or his belongings.

"There's a lot of geography to cover to recover his remains," Kraft said. "We don't want to put anybody at risk by putting them out there, but if there are hikers that live in the area, we ask that they keep an eye out."

Some of the items Matthew was traveling with include:

Otter iPhone case

Oakley sunglasses

Katadyn water filtration system

Osprey backpack rain cover (shadow gray)

Petzl head lamp

Kwikpoint sleeping system

Scarpa T1 ski boots

If anything is found, GPS coordinates should be relayed to Dave Fox from the National Park Service at dave_fox@nps.gov.

"He was a career designate for the Marine Corps — he planned on making it his lifelong career. They posthumously promoted him to Captain because they thought so much of him," Kraft said. "Matt was doing what he loved, preparing for deployment, and conditioning himself to be a better Marine."