John Latimer

johnlatimer@ldnews.com

A 24-year-old North Carolina man who got lost after wandering off the Appalachian Trail Wednesday was found dehydrated but otherwise unharmed around daybreak Thursday morning.

The search began about 12:40 a.m. in Union Township after state police were notified by a family member whom the hiker had texted after wandering off the trail and becoming disoriented. The trooper hiked about four miles on the trail before giving up the search and notifying the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which has jurisdiction in the area, state police said.

Wildlife Conservation Officer Brian Sheetz, the state game warden in charge of search and rescue operations in Lebanon County, said he was contacted about 4:45 a.m. and given the GPS coordinates that had been obtained from the hiker's cellphone.

Sheetz said he contacted his neighbor, Wildlife Conservation Officer Scott Frederick, who covers Dauphin County, and the pair searched the area near Rausch Gap for about 30 minutes without any luck.

"I went back and checked his coordinates with my GPS and found we were about a quarter mile off," Sheetz said. "We went back and eventually found him in his tent, which he set up near the railroad bed. He was severely disoriented and severely dehydrated. His speech was slurred and things like that."

The hiker, whose name was not released, told Sheetz he was on a through hike on the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, when he became low on water and left the trail to replenish his supply. When he crossed over the mountain, he became disoriented.

"He was thankful to see us," Sheetz said.

After giving the man some water, the officers drove him about five miles in a pickup truck back to a parking lot on Gold Mine Road in Cold Spring Township, where he was taken by a First Aid & Safety Patrol ambulance to WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital for evaluation at 6:40 a.m. Also assisting during the search were crews from Greenpoint and Lickdale fire companies.

"We are wardens. That's what we do," Sheetz said. "Our track record is 100 percent in Lebanon County."

Sheetz said he offered to take the man back to the trail to resume his hike if he felt up to it but had not heard from him by 1 p.m. Thursday.