Yosemite: Missing Hiker Did the Right Thing, Was Found

A well-prepared California hiker missing for six days in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park has been found. The National Park Service tells KTVU that Alan Chow of Oakland was found hydrated and in good health. A ranger in a helicopter spotted him Friday after an extensive search. Chow planned an overnight backpacking trip alone and was last seen Feb. 17, the AP reports. He wasn't officially noticed to be missing until three days later. Yosemite park ranger Scott Gediman says Chow got lost, then set up his tent and stayed put until he was found. Officials say that was the right thing to do.

Gediman says Chow had food, warm clothing in preparation for the cold temperatures, and used melted snow for drinking water. "The lesson here is for everybody, is that if you're out in the back country and you fall, you hurt yourself, you get lost, just stay put and don't try to walk around and get even more lost," Gediman says. He says the 36-year-old Chow has been reunited with his family and did not require hospitalization. (In December, a lost 92-year-old hunter in Virginia was rescued after a drone joined the search.)