Hiker reported missing, 50 below zero!

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Bubbanumber1

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Nov 28, 2005
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In the best case scenario, this guy got cold, wondered to the road, was picked up and taken to a remote cabin with no communications and is just holding out till the bad weather breaks. Even in these temps, locals on sno gos and dog sleds would be passing by his camp as this is a busy corner of the interior of Alaska compared to what is considered remote by Alaskan standards. In the worst case scenario he is a Japanese flavored Popsicle. This will be a good story to follow either way, not quite Alexander Supertramp, but there is much to be learned here from this guys experience.




http://newsminer.com/news/2009/jan/03/hiker-reported-missing/


Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
newsminer.com
The voice of Interior Alaska since 1903


Hiker reported missing

By Christopher Eshleman

Originally published Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 3:41 p.m.
Updated Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 6:12 p.m.


FAIRBANKS — A man reportedly walking from Canada to Prudhoe Bay could be missing, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Thirty-seven-year-old Toru Yamaguchi of Japan was last seen about two weeks ago 73 miles north of Fairbanks as he hiked through the state.

State transportation workers reported to state troopers that they found a campsite at a gravel pit close to the intersection of the Elliott and Dalton highways three days before Christmas.

As of Saturday, the site looked to have been abandoned, and trooper Sgt. Brian Wassmann wrote in a report online that public safety officials think the site was Yamaguchi’s, as it included a cart, which he had apparently been dragging with him and sleeping in.

Wassmann said if Yamaguchi left travel plans with anyone, troopers were unaware of it and are checking the campsite for any signs of problems.

Interior Alaska is in the middle of one of its coldest streaks in years, with temperatures across the Tanana Valley dipping to 50 below zero.

The state believes Yamaguchi was hiking along the road from the federal U.S. Customs border at Poker Creek to Prudhoe Bay.

Yamaguchi looks to have been planning the trip for a while.

Terry Huskett, a postal clerk in Coldfoot, said the post office there has been keeping six or seven boxes addressed to Yamaguchi and mailed this summer. They began arriving in May, with return addresses from either Yamaguchi or his father and addressed general delivery. Some bore the message, written directly on the box, that he planned to arrive and would need provisions and asking postal workers to store them, Huskett said.

The last box was mailed from the Canadian town of Whitehorse, Huskett said. The larger ones weigh roughly 50 or 60 pounds, and one, which has broken open since arriving, holds rice, he said.

“We’ve just been kind of waiting for him to get here,” he said Saturday by phone.

Huskett said the last word he’d heard of the hiker was a mention of him by a few truckers who drove through town about a month ago.

The latest weather advisory for the Dalton Highway issued Saturday by the state Department of Transportation included reports of high winds, low to zero visibility and drifting and blowing snow. Wassmann asked anyone with information to call trooper headquarters in Fairbanks at 451-5100.
 
I love the tough dudes who walk the walk...I hope he is OK.:thumbup:
 
gunknifenut said:
I love the tough dudes who walk the walk...I hope he is OK.:thumbup:
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Yea, I hope this guy is OK too. Maybe he got cold and caught a ride into Fairbanks and checked into a hotel. Alaska is like no other place in the lower 48, the lessons learned there are cold and hard, mistakes are not forgiven.
 
I wish this guy well,by the info offered he was probably reasonably prepared . If all is not well then picked a great place to end his journey.
 
This idiot is a good example to learn from. He had no plan filed with anyone, did not let anyone know what he was up to. He left his gear abandoned on the side of the road which was found and plenty of people got cold looking for this numb nuts.

Be advised, if you chose to take off on extreme adventures, file a game plan with somebody. Do not put search and rescue people into the field because your to lazy to let people know what your up to.



Missing hiker found, had suspended trek

By Christopher Eshleman

Published Sunday, January 4, 2009



FAIRBANKS — Public safety officials have located a Japanese hiker who late last month suspended his try at walking from Canada to Prudhoe Bay.

The state on Saturday identified the hiker, 37-year-old Toru Yamaguchi, as possibly missing after state road workers reported finding an abandoned campsite 73 miles north of Fairbanks.

Trooper Sgt. Brian Wassmann said the department’s request for information sparked phone calls including one from a man who said he’d given Yamaguchi a ride Dec. 23 south to the town of Fox.

Troopers eventually tracked Yamaguchi to the Whitehorse, Canada, where he was as of Sunday afternoon. People interviewed Sunday said the hiker had caught a bus back to Whitehorse, where his trek originated.

Yamaguchi had failed to leave travel plans with public authorities. He wound up attempting his road hike during one of the coldest streaks seen in Interior Alaska in years. Temperatures stayed at or near 50 degrees below zero Sunday.
 
christ, there is a major wind pattern in that area right now, if base temps are -50 celcuis, i'd hate to see the wind chill......
 
Bubbanumber1 said:
This idiot is a good example to learn from. He had no plan filed with anyone, did not let anyone know what he was up to. He left his gear abandoned on the side of the road which was found and plenty of people got cold looking for this numb nuts.

Be advised, if you chose to take off on extreme adventures, file a game plan with somebody. Do not put search and rescue people into the field because your to lazy to let people know what your up to.


.......Yamaguchi had failed to leave travel plans with public authorities. He wound up attempting his road hike during one of the coldest streaks seen in Interior Alaska in years. .....
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I don't agree that he was negligent. He was walking a road. Yes the weather was extreme, but the trip plan was not the type of extreme adventure that one might necessarily leave a trip plan with authorities. If he stuck to the roadway or near the roadway, then why would he necessarily have to do this? I can see a trip plan being important to register with park authorities or marine authorities when venturing into the wilds or the open seas, but along roadways? Who would he even file such a trip plan with? Would the police just toss it in the garbage bucket, or a really big file drawer (same thing) if he did? Lets face it, not every person who does a cross country hitchhike files a plan like this. In fact, hardly anybody does. The weather became extreme, but who could anticipate that?

I'm glad he managed to get a ride from somebody. He did leave gear behind and that sparked a search by authorities but I wouldn't go so far as indicating that this was negligence. Who knows under what circumstances he had to leave his gear. The authorities were following due diligence. It is their job to investigate what happens.
 
KGD, I totally disagree with your view on this and here is why. Interior Alaska is not just any road, If Popsicle wants to walk the Appalachian Trail, no worries, nobody cares. This guy took off out of Fairbanks on the Haul Road, Every truck that saw this idiot stopped up in Cold Foot at the coffee joint and asked the troopers what was going on. No Alaskan in their right mind would plan such a idiotic trip anyway but one has to be a nut to travel over the Haul Road on foot any time of the year.

There is much adventure in Alaska, if this guy wanted to travel the whole state in a circle on snow machine or by dog sled I think every Alaskan would be more than happy about that and think he was just normal. There are people who live in tents year around in the area this guys last camp was in, That is considered normal. What is considered abnormal is walking down a freaking road in winter time when you can put on snow shoes and take a trail.

I guarantee you, the guys who were out calling this guys name at 50 below and following his tracks around the area looking for him are 100% pissed off. Alaska is no joke, its serious business even living up in town around Fairbanks. This Japanese Popsicle made the worst mistake anyone can make in Alaska. That is, he ventured into the Alaskan winter without local knowledge, lucky for him he has lived to tell the story.

One time a guy rode a bicycle from Whitehorse to Nome, that was an adventure. Walking on the Haul Road is dangerous to the hiker and to the truckers. Heading out of Fairbanks in winter without having a plan, and a start and stop that is known to friends endangers any would be rescue team. This Jackass could have stopped in Fairbanks and told someone he was giving up and going back to Canada, instead he left a messy camp for the Troopers to find with no note saying he safe and in a warm hotel.
 
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I tend to agree with Bubba and bushman on this one. Just because there's a road there doesn't mean the place isn't remote enough to let people know where you're going and when you'll be back. 'Letting someone know before you go' is a basic requirement of wilderness travel, just like dressing properly for the conditions and carrying a map and compass and the other necessary gear. I don't think there's any excuse for not doing it.
 
I do not know why he went back to Whitehorse Yukon but it appears he was spotted there.

FAIRBANKS — Public safety officials have located a Japanese hiker who they say had suspended his attempt to walk from Canada to Prudhoe Bay.

The state on Saturday identified the hiker, 37-year-old Toru Yamaguchi, as possibly missing after state road workers reported finding an abandoned campsite near the Dalton Highway, 73 miles north of Fairbanks.

Trooper Sgt. Brian Wassmann said his department asked for help finding Yamaguchi and wound up receiving multiple phone calls, including one from a man who said he’d given Yamaguchi a ride south of the campsite to the town of Fox. The state eventually tracked Yamaguchi to the Canadian town of Whitehorse on Sunday afternoon.

Yamaguchi had drawn attention in late December after Fairbanks-area residents saw him trudging north along the side of the Steese Expressway, drawing behind him a wooden cart and telling people he was bound for the state’s northern coast.

Wassmann said Yamaguchi was returning to Fairbanks on Sunday night, apparently to pick up his trip from where he left off a few days before Christmas — near the junction of the Elliott and Dalton highways, 73 miles north of town.

People interviewed Sunday said Yamaguchi had hitchhiked back to Fairbanks, then caught a bus to Whitehorse, where his trek originated, arriving Christmas Eve. One said he was under the impression Yamaguchi had to leave the state temporarily to satisfy rules attached to his passport.

Yamaguchi failed to leave travel plans with public authorities last month, leading state troopers to search for him through the weekend. He wound up attempting his road hike during one of the coldest streaks seen in Interior Alaska in years — temperatures stayed at or near 50 degrees below zero Sunday.

State law gives public safety officials the power to detain people who appear to jeopardize the safety of themselves or others, a power occasionally used when, for example, someone has obviously had too much to drink. Wassmann indicated the rule might not apply to a hiker who chooses to — and properly prepares for — a months-long hike through jaw-dropping low temperatures.

“If he’s prepared and willing to go — and he looks like he’s prepared — we’re not going to stop him,” Wassmann said Sunday, adding that troopers have phone numbers for Yamaguchi’s family and can monitor his progress through conversations with road crews or the company that manages the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. “We’ll continue to keep an eye on him.”

Pat Lundy, a 71-year-old traveler from Saratoga, Wyo., told a reporter by phone Sunday that Yamaguchi spent Christmas Eve at the same Whitehorse hostel as him, the Beez Kneez. Hostel manager Nancy Tanner confirmed Lundy’s story, saying Yamaguchi was a great guest, entertaining others with conversation.

Angel Sunderman, a bar manager at the 98 Hotel in Whitehorse, said Yamaguchi checked out Sunday morning after staying for a few nights
 
The man got rescued and being a foreigner to the area I think credit should be given to him for undertaking the trek in the first place:thumbup:

How many people would have the nerve to tackle a long trek far from home in unfamiliar terrain?Credit to him for trying. This is what wilderness trips ARE about. N.B. I live in Scandinavia so I KNOW about extreme temps.:eek:
 
I'm torn between KGD and Bubba's arguements.

Yes he was wrong to leave his gear and camp for people to conclude he was in danger...

But if it was that cold and you needed out NOW would you waste the time and energy to clean up after yourself... or would you drop and go, knowing you'd get a lift before long? Cut your losses and stay alive is what I say. He should have thought to call it in to the authorities, though.

There is a fine line between "laying out your intended plans in case of an emergency" and "mind your own farkin' business, I do what I want, when I want!". Sounds like if he had told someone what he intended to do, he may have been prevented from doing it by state law. I'm sorry, but sometimes you just gotta do shit whether it kills ya or not.

Bubba's points about puting SAR workers at risk are very valid too.... I cannot argue his logic.

Like I said..... I'm torn.

Rick
 
In the scope of Alaska adventures this one rates about a zero. Sure its cold, sure its a little lonely, but that's where it ends. This num nuts is walking on a frozen road, whoring attention from the public, is never in the wild. He is keeping one foot in civilization and sticking the other a little off everyday joes map screaming look at me. I bet he goes back to Japan like some kind of hero while guys and girls who train racing sled dogs are out on the trails all over Alaska non stop. Even Todd Pailin gets a big thumbs up for running the Iron Dog. I would say the Iron Dog is about ten times more difficult and more adventure than just getting in everybodies way walking up the Haul Road.
 
When you are belly button deep in aligators you may forget that your primary purpose was to drain the swamp.
The authorities could have pulled this guy over any time they chose and pre-overruled any after the fact critics second guessing what he should have done.
Good question ,what should he have done different? One option would be to have not done it at all.
 
We could all just sit home on the couch and eat nachos, but that wouldn't be very "adventurous", would it.


I'm not really understanding some of the angst here.

Some of the posts are carrying a banner that pushes notifying authorities of your intentions and leaving detailed plans and timelines with loved ones yada, yada, and on the other side, we are hearing the guy never left the road and was not even on an adventure by Alaska standards.

So which is it? Can't have it both ways folks.

He never called for help. He was near a road of some sort. Sounds to me like sombody jumped the gun and sent a bunch of people into the cold for no apparent reason.
 
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Primitive Man, Maybe my posting is a little confusing. If this guy wanted to be alone, well its Alaska. There is no place on this earth that you can be more alone, well, possibly Siberia but if an American showed up there I would imagine they would be followed around. Forget about being alone in any jungle, my old friend Martin who led expeditions in the 70s all over south America and South Pacific once said to me, "You go to the heart of the jungle, think you're alone, whip it out to take a piss, then you see the eyes of little people watching you with amusement." Late in his life Martin bought a private island in the Philipines and even there he could never be alone.

Point being, If this guy wanted off the grid, he could have just taken off into the snow somewhere. By staying on the road he got much attention, mostly negative. Since he was on the road, big trucks were passing him multiple times per day which is very dangerous since its dark most of the time this season of the year, This puts him and the truckers in danger.

There are trails everywhere throughout Alaska, a sled and some snowshoes and you can walk from Whitehorse to Nome down the Yukon River, Its been done many times. Funny thing, everytime its been done it was adventure, walking on the Haul Road having everybody worried about you, having people stopping to make sure your OK, whoring attention when your supposed to be on some lonesome journey? Well, its not much to brag about.

Walking and rafting from one end of the Brooks Range to the other, spending a winter in Bettles or Wiseman, or just living in a tent and not drawing any attention to yourself, those are Alaskan Adventures, walking down a road, that just lacks imagination.
 
Bubbanumber1 said:
Primitive Man, Maybe my posting is a little confusing. If this guy wanted to be alone, well its Alaska. There is no place on this earth that you can be more alone, well, possibly Siberia but if an American showed up there I would imagine they would be followed around. Forget about being alone in any jungle, my old friend Martin who led expeditions in the 70s all over south America and South Pacific once said to me, "You go to the heart of the jungle, think you're alone, whip it out to take a piss, then you see the eyes of little people watching you with amusement." Late in his life Martin bought a private island in the Philipines and even there he could never be alone.

Point being, If this guy wanted off the grid, he could have just taken off into the snow somewhere. By staying on the road he got much attention, mostly negative. Since he was on the road, big trucks were passing him multiple times per day which is very dangerous since its dark most of the time this season of the year, This puts him and the truckers in danger.

There are trails everywhere throughout Alaska, a sled and some snowshoes and you can walk from Whitehorse to Nome down the Yukon River, Its been done many times. Funny thing, everytime its been done it was adventure, walking on the Haul Road having everybody worried about you, having people stopping to make sure your OK, whoring attention when your supposed to be on some lonesome journey? Well, its not much to brag about.

Walking and rafting from one end of the Brooks Range to the other, spending a winter in Bettles or Wiseman, or just living in a tent and not drawing any attention to yourself, those are Alaskan Adventures, walking down a road, that just lacks imagination.
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I guess I'm just confused at what you are so worked up about regarding this guy. The fact that he lacks imagination, or the fact that there was a search for him. Chastising him for lack of imagination can simply be turned around to say that he knew his limits. What seems like a numbnuts thing to you might just be what this guy, in his limited imagination, just happened to be dreaming about. The fact that he vacated before turning into a popsicle also indicated that he made a correct survival judgment. Is it illegal to walk the road in Alaska? If not, then saying that it put truckers at danger is a little like saying - only vehicles are allowed on the road. If that were the case then the authorities should have picked him up and told him the rules.

So the only real thing you have to complain is that there was a search made for him. I'm not going to criticize authorities - they made the call that they felt was needed. I almost wonder if the guy was actually found by a financial track down looking at bank withdrawls or credit cards etc? As Rick indicated, who knows what circumstances were involved in him dumping his stuff.
 
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