Missing hikers found in Crabtree Falls area

Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: April 4, 2008

Two hikers in the Crabtree Falls area went missing for three hours Thursday night but were found safe around 10 p.m.

Nelson County Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Uttaro said two men in their 20s were hiking with one of the men’s father. Before the younger men parted ways with the father, they agreed to meet up in the Crabtree Falls parking lot.

Uttaro said the entire incident boiled down to confusion over which parking lot. The father thought they were meeting in an upper parking lot, the other men went to the lower lot.

When they realized the mis-take, they hiked back up the mountain in the freezing rain.

“They were very experienced, but the weather was an issue. It was very cold and icy up there,” Uttaro said. “If it had been a clear night, we probably would have waited until morning.”

The two men were found, wet but safe, by a three-person search-and-rescue team at 9:50 p.m., Uttaro said.