Authorities who have intensively searched since March 4 for a Camp Pendleton Marine missing on a Sierra Nevada trek announced on Saturday that they are curtailing their efforts.

Inyo County sheriff's officials said they will transition to a "limited continuous search status" until 1st Lt. Matthew Kraft, 24, from Washington, Conn., is found.

The sheriff's website has posted updates on their search efforts through extreme weather conditions, but on Saturday officials said there will be no more updates after Monday.

Kraft went missing after setting out on what he planned as a 10-day solo hiking and skiing trek across the Sierra High Route, which stretches from Kings Canyon National Park northward to Yosemite National Park. The 195-mile route, along elevations from 9,000 feet to 12,000 feet, is covered in deep snow during the winter.

Kraft was to begin his trip on the Kearsarge Pass Trail on Feb. 23 and end it near Bridgeport in Mono County on March 4 or 5, authorities said.

When he failed to contact anyone by then, his father called the Mono County Sheriff's Department. Deputies there checked trailheads and traced Kraft's last cellphone activity to the Independence area of Inyo County.

Kraft's gray two-door 2016 Jeep Wrangler was found on March 8 near Lower Grays Meadows above Independence. Inyo County deputies took over the search, aided by search and rescue teams, the Marine Corps, Air National Guard and other county, state and federal agencies.

Inyo County authorities said avalanche conditions, snow bridges and high winds have hampered the searches covering an area the size of Rhode Island.

This article is written by Pauline Repard from The San Diego Union-Tribune and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.