SEQUIM – A man missing in Olympic National Forest south of Sequim has been found safe.
59-year-old Roger Gates was found by his daughter Tuesday morning while driving local logging roads searching for him.
Gates set out on a hike around U.S. Forest Service Road 2870 near Sequim. During the hike, Roger became disoriented and lost because of recent high smoke volume in the area due to forest fires.
He called family and reported he was in a location known as Three O’clock Ridge yesterday morning.
Clallam County Search and Rescue made a search of the area but could not find Gates.
A second search with a helicopter was set to begin this morning, then Gates was found. We asked Chief Deputy Brian King what kind of shape Gates was in after two unplanned nights in the wilderness.
King says that Gates’ main problem was that he wasn’t able to reference his usual landmarks in the area because of the dense smoke.