Signal fire leads rescuers to missing AT hiker

A hiker who had gone missing almost a week ago on the Appalachian Trail near Bedford has been found alive and well.

The Lynchburg News & Advance reported:

Ken Knight, 41, was found at the base of Little Rocky Row after a small signal fire he lit got out of control, turning into a 2-acre brush fire on the ridge that got everyone’s attention, said Lt. Brandon Cocke of the Big Island Volunteer Fire Department.

Glad to hear this search and rescue had a happy ending.

ALERT: Hiker missing on Appalachian Trail -- UPDATED

Ken Knight, 41, of Ann Arbor, Mich., was last seen Sunday at the Punch Bowl Shelter near Blue Ridge Parkway’s milepost 51.7. Photo courtesy of BackpackingLight.com.

[UPDATED 5-3-09: Missing hiker found alive]

The hiking community is on high alert as more than 100 volunteers search for a missing hiker on the Appalachian Trail who was last seen Sunday in the Bedford/Amherst area of Virginia. He is vision impaired and is feared to have lost the trail.

Ken Knight, 41, editor of "Backpacking Light," has not been heard from and his friends are asking all to send out the following information that was posted on Backpacking Light:

KEN KNIGHT IS MISSING ON APPALACHIAN TRAIL IN VA on 04/30/2009 09:06:52 MDT
*** URGENT ***

Backpacking Light editor KEN KNIGHT is missing after a hike on the Applachian Trail in Virginia.

If you saw Ken or otherwise know of his whereabouts after Sunday morning, please contact us at the following email address:

PUBLISHER@BACKPACKINGLIGHT.COM

About Ken

Ken is 5'4" tall and approx. 180-200 lb. He is vision impaired, has dark hair, and is probably using a dry bag-style pack with an orange packbag.

Ken is an experienced AT hiker but his vision impairment may have caused him to lose the trail.

Point Last Seen

He was last seen on the AT on Sunday morning, around 9-10am, at Punchbowl Mountain, Blue Ridge Parkway, mile 51.7, in the area of Buchanan and Bedford, Virginia.

He'd been trailing behind a group and meeting up with them at their camp sites. On Sunday, he reported not feeling well and suggested he
might go off the trail. The group did not see him since leaving Punchbowl Mountain on Sunday.

He was anticipated to reach mile 76.3 on Tuesday, which the rest of the group did. To date, he has not arrived, and he has missed his flight back home to Michigan Wednesday night.

Ken regularly blogs via iPhone when he has cellular coverage. His last known blog entry was Sunday morning, April 26, at 6:36 AM Eastern:

http://twitter.com/kenknight

Search in Progress

Ken's family has been notified, and a search is currently in progress by NPS and VA State SAR.

Non-agency SAR and other volunteers interested in assisting with this search should contact us at publisher@backpackinglight.com, who is coordinating the efforts of outside volunteers with the SAR Coordinator on location. Please send your name, cellular phone number, and distance from SNP in your message, and then wait for further instructions.

Please Distribute This Info

Please distribute a link to this post as wide as possible via this tinyurl link via Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking avenues. Please copy and paste this exact text to retweet this info on Twitter etc.:

EMERGENCY @KENKNIGHT (KEN KNIGHT) MISSING ON A.T. IN VA: http://tinyurl.com/ded5tt INFO? EMAIL PUBLISHER@BACKPACKINGLIGHT.COM RT @BIGSKYRY

I am in contact with the NPS Ranger and the VA State SAR, the agencies responsible for the search and will relay info promptly them.

Best Regards,
Ryan Jordan
CEO Backpacking Light

Lynchburg's News & Advance had an update on Friday, May 1. Our prayers go out for Ken's safety, for those searching for him, and to his family.

Day 10: Staunton man still missing in Shenandoah National Park

He has not been heard from in 10 days so the search continues for 50-year-old Earl Funk in the Cedar Mountain area of Shenandoah National Park.

Wednesday, as 40 searchers worked the area, they found items that belong to Mr. Funk including cigarettes, a hat, and a digging tool that would be used for hunting ginseng, according to the Waynesboro News Virginian. The items were found less than a mile from Mr. Funk's ATV.

With overnight temperatures in the 30s and reports of an unknown medical condition that limited his mobility, the search continues with dog teams and volunteers as well as Park Service personnel and others. That area of the national forest is known by locals as infested with rattlesnakes, according to folks who have lived here all their lives.

Prayers go up for Mr. Funk's safety and for the rescuers who are working that mountain.

Missing children found alive in George Washington National Forest

Two children who were lost yesterday in the Augusta Springs Wetlands area of the George Washington National Forest were found alive today, according to the Waynesboro News Virginian, but details on their rescue remain sketchy.

Bloodhounds, ATVs, and 100 searchers from the National Forest Service, Augusta Sheriff's Department, Virginia State Police, and Craigsville and Swoope Fire Departments as well as volunteers began looking for the children, ages 8 and 11, late Sunday afternoon when they were reported missing.

Rescue personnel reported searching throughout the night in mountaineous terrain so dark they could not see the starts. Augusta Springs is relatively flat but the mountains surrounding it are steep and rocky.

Thankfully they were found ... but the hunt continues in the Shenandoah National Park for Earl Funk, 50, who disappeared a week ago while hunting ginseng on Cedar Mountain. The search for him was to continue today.

2 children missing in Augusta Springs area of George Washington National Forest

Sunday evening as darkness fell over the Shenandoah Valley, two children, ages 8 and 11, who had become separated from their hiking party, were missing in the Augusta Springs area of the George Washington National Forest. Augusta Springs is a wetlands recreational area that is popular for nature walks, hiking, and bird watching.

The Forest Service, Augusta County sheriff's department, Virginia State Police, and the Churchville and Craigsville fire and rescue squads were called in to join the search, according to the Waynesboro News Virginian.

Temperatures last night were not as cold as they had been a few nights earlier but lows in the 40s still made it uncomfortably chilly in the mountains. The search is concentrating around Little North Mountain near the Buffalo Gap area of western Augusta County.

Our prayers go up for those children in hopes they will be found safely.

Staunton man missing in Shenandoah National Park

What happened to Earl Funk, the 50-year-old Staunton resident who disappeared in Shenandoah National Park Monday afternoon? Hunting ginsing with a friend in the Albemarle County area of the park near Walnut Level Road at Cedar Mountain, they separated and agreed to meet at a predetermined location before dark.

Mr. Funk never arrived, and a search has been underway each day since. Forty volunteers searched the area Wednesday.

The search resumed today at 9 a.m. with trained personnel and GPS systems in use to find Mr. Funk who is described as 5'8" tall with brown hair and green eyes and weighing approximately 145 pounds. Wearing dark pants and a light shirt, anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-732-0911.

The Waynesboro News Virginian is following this story.