Search teams on Wednesday morning will continue their efforts to find a missing 53-year-old hiker.
Christopher Smaka, an herbalist and experienced outdoorsman, left his Portland home Monday morning for a hike in the Gordon Creek area, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office says.
About 25 searchers set out Tuesday after Smaka was reported missing. He did not plan to camp overnight, authorities say.
In an interview last October for The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Peak Northwest outdoors podcast, Smaka talked about the joys of leaving behind forest trails, saying: “You see sights and you hear sounds, and you might see animals, that you’re just not going to see in any other way.” He called such hikes a “semi-mystical experience.”
Searchers on Tuesday found Smaka’s vehicle parked on Gordon Creek Road near Corbett. They later discovered a pair of shoes and Smaka’s identification on the Sandy River riverbank, indicating that he may have gone swimming.
The search teams used a drone and paddled out into the river. They ultimately suspended the effort because of darkness.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office has now taken over the search.
— The Oregonian/OregonLive