The big news today is that they found Wade's pack and ice axe. They first spotted it from a helicopter, then were able to get to it on the ground. An initial search inside turned up his wallet with ID. The pack is now at the base on the other side of the mountain, and at the time that I spoke with the SAR team this afternoon, they didn't have an inventory of its contents. They found it at about noon, and were planning a search with dogs, I can't remember if that was started today or will start tomorrow. There are two dog teams.
The pack was clean and in good condition, and looked like it had been set on the ground, did not slide down the mountain.
The pack was found a bit off the switchback trail that goes down the west side of the mountain, so the concentration of the search tomorrow will be on the west side, though they will continue to search the east side in case he went back up and over the ridge.
They also found a pair of wraparound sunglasses with a tortoiseshell frame on the trail, but we aren't sure if they are his. Any of the hiking buddies remember if he had glasses like that?
Tonight teams are camped on both the east and west sides; at Guitar Lake on the west side and Trail Camp on the east side.
If you want to see a 3D image of the mountain, search for Google Earth, download the free software, then search for Mt. Whitney. It's pretty amazing technology.
That's what I can think of right now. I have a few photos and links that I'm going to try to post soon.
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Michelle, I don't recall Wade wearing wrap around sunglasses, in fact he seldom wore sunglasses. I went and looked at pictures from our recent hikes and he is not wearing any sunglasses. Thanks for the post. Arlyn Harang
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