PORT ANGELES — Teams searched Saturday for a 60-year-old man missing in Olympic National Park, focusing on an area off trail where his pack was found.
Jim Griffin hasn’t been seen since he went for a hike Monday on the Olympic Hot Springs Trail. His friends reported him missing Wednesday night after he failed to show up at a Christmas Eve dinner.
The National Park Service said Saturday that nearly two dozen people were conducting an intensive grid search in the area where they found his day pack about 50 feet off trail.
Spokeswoman Jacilee Wray said they believe Griffin set off around 11 a.m. Monday for the hot springs, which is about 2 1⁄2 miles from the trailhead.
People reported seeing him at the hot springs that afternoon, so officials believe Griffin may have hiked back to his car in the dark, she said.
His pack was found off the trail about one-half mile from the trailhead, where he had parked his car. She said it appears he had taken things out of the pack, including a towel.
Nearby searchers found a pouch of freeze-dried food that had been filled with water and resealed, Wray told the Peninsula Daily News. There were no signs of a struggle in the area, she said.
“He’s a slow and steady hiker,” she said, adding that he would have been moving slower because of a previous leg injury.
The trail to the hot springs rises about 1,800 feet in elevation.
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