A mushroom hunter who was not prepared for overnight, wintry weather conditions had to be rescued from Mt. Hood National Forest last week. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office shared a photo of the snowy conditions that hunter had to deal with.
The sheriff’s office said it happened Nov. 1. A family member called that morning to report that Trevor Schultes, 36, of Aurora had not returned from his mushroom-picking trip. The caller said Schultes was last seen around 5:30 p.m. the night before near the east end of Wildcat Mountain Road and was not properly equipped for overnight conditions.
A sheriff’s deputy found Schultes’ car at about 3,200-feet of elevation. It was raining, 38 degrees Fahrenheit with remnants of the previous night’s snow on the ground, the sheriff’s office said.
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A search and rescue mission was launched with 28 volunteers responding including ground searchers, two K9 teams and two ATV riders.
At about 4:30 p.m., faint voice contact with made with Schultes. The sheriff’s office said he as about a quarter-mile away from the search team and still needed to be located.
Searchers finally found him in dense terrain, but he was hypothermic and soon became unresponsive. Rescuers gave first aid, warmed up Schultes and gave him dry clothes and warm liquids.
As they prepared to bring Schultes to safety on a sled, a thunderstorm passed over the area that brought hail, snow and dropped temperatures to just above freezing.
The team was able to bring Schultes to the nearest road where an ambulance took him to the hospital.
No other details on his condition were provided by the sheriff’s office.
