Search-and-rescue teams are combing a rugged piece of Northern California wilderness, hoping to find a hiker reported missing Wednesday.

Blue Lake resident Daniel Komins, 34, is an experienced backpacker and an emergency medical technician, said officials with the Trinity County Sheriff’s Department. When he failed to return home Wednesday evening from a solo, five-day backpacking trip in the Trinity Alps, his girlfriend called police.

That night, sheriff’s deputies found Komins’ unoccupied car near a Trinity County trailhead.

Related Articles Missing hiker found dead in Trinity County More than 40 people, including some from the Contra Costa and Marin county rescue teams, were dispatched at the break of dawn the following day to search for Komins. That included people on the ground, in all-terrain vehicles and in helicopters, authorities said. Several ground searchers were also dispatched to high-elevation areas, officials said, in order to access hard-to-reach trails.

Though teams have been combing the area for days, the search continued on Saturday, authorities said. Some of the volunteer trackers helping in the search found a footprint that they believe to be Komins indicating the route he took, according to Carli Hollis, his girlfriend, but there were no other signs of his whereabouts. She said the search had continued on Sunday and relatives of Komins had set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help buy food and supplies for volunteer searchers.

Komins was carrying a GPS tracker, which authorities said isn’t transmitting a signal, and a cell phone. The last time he used the cell phone was on Aug. 11, when he contacted Hollis to tell her the trip was going as planned.

He also posted a photo of himself sitting next to two other hikers at the top of Thompson Peak with the caption: “I just summited Thompson Peak and am enjoying ice cold double IPA and shrimp tacos at 9,002 feet. On the way I met four meandering hikers from the SF Bay Area and helped guide them to the top.”

Hollis described Komins as a careful backpacker who has summited Thompson Peak several times before.

“He’s in really good shape, good health, good mental health,” Hollis said. “He’s really experienced, he’s had hundreds of solo backpacking miles that he’s done. It’s something that he takes seriously.”

Since last summer he’s been practicing ultralight backpacking, she said, taking a roughly 20lb backpack with all his food and supplies, far less than more traditional 60lb to 80lb backpacks. He’d also been working on a summer goal of completing the Bigfoot Trail, a 360-mile route in Northern California that ends in Crescent City and includes a brief section in southern Oregon.

“The Bigfoot Trail, it’s more of a concept, it’s not a finished trail,” Hollis said. “Some parts of the trail are marked by flagging, some you have to figure out on your own.”

Some people have gotten lost hiking the trail, she said, but had been found or found their own way out of the wilderness. She added that Komins was experienced with going off trail and into less popular routes.

Hollis described Komins as a friendly, caring person that always sought to help others. They’ve been dating for almost a year and have known each other for about a decade.

“He is one of the most positive people I know,” she said. “He always wants to talk to you, especially if you’re on a trail, he’ll stop and talk and ask you how your hike has been, where you’ve been, where you’re going.”

Authorities have been in contact with several of the backpackers who met Komins on the trail on Aug. 11, officials said. They told deputies he appeared to be in good health and had an adequate supply of food, water and backpacking materials.

They were also able to provide deputies with information about Komins’ stated travel plans, but officials said it appears Komins may have deviated from his original route.

Hollis said Komins appeared in good spirits the last morning before his hike.

“When I talked to him when he was up on Thompson Peak he told me he loved me,” she said. “I’m just really hoping that he’s ok.”

Staff reporter Leonardo Castañeda contributed to this report.