Searching is expected to continue Saturday for a missing elk hunter in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

With partly clear skies in the Saturday forecast, the air wing unit from the King County Sheriff's Office will participate in the search, Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown said in a news release.

Joel Presler, 37, of Vancouver has not been heard from since Saturday, Nov. 11. Deputies found Presler's 2004 black Ford pickup on Wednesday off Forest Road 6035. The search began Wednesday. He had been on a hunting trip in the Forlorn Lakes area.

Searching on Friday concentrated on the Comcomly Lake area and a remote cabin near the area where Presler's pickup was found, the sheriff said in a news release, but there was no sign anyone had been in either location.

Snow is about 4 feet deep in the area searched.

Presler has hunted in the area for many years, Brown said, and doesn't have any known medical problems.

Search operations have been based near the Peterson Prairie Campground.

-- Allan Brettman