Missing Pacific Crest hiker started at Mexican border before going missing near White Pass

YAKIMA – Search and rescue teams from Yakima, Kittitas and Pierce counties along with volunteers were combing the steep, rocky terrain between White Pass and Snoqualmie Pass on Tuesday trying to find a missing Pacific Crest Trail hiker.

Kris Fowler, 31, was last seen Oct. 12 in the White Pass area, where authorities say he said he planned to follow a roughly 100 mile section of the trail to Snoqualmie Pass.

Family members said his cellphone carrier reported no activity on his phone for the last week.

Fowler, of Beavercreek, Ohio, started the Pacific Crest Trail in southern California near the Mexico border in May, his stepmom, Sally Guyton Fowler, said.

He had mapped out the trail and arranged to have packages sent to him at specific locations, where he could use his cellphone to keep in touch with family, she said.

“The deal was every couple of weeks he’d post on Facebook or text,” she said. “And he mostly kept to that.”

She’s now headed to Washington to be close to the search.

Yakima County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Randy Briscoe said Fowler was last seen at the Cracker Barrel market and gas station at the summit of White Pass on Oct. 12.

He could have camped on the trail before reaching Snoqualmie Pass. A storm hit the south Cascade Mountains on Oct. 14, bringing up to two feet of snow in some areas, said Briscoe, adding that Fowler could have made it to Snoqualmie Pass and continued on.

Briscoe said he assembled a crew Tuesday to search near Chinook Pass.

“They’re prepared to spend the night if they need to,” he said.

Pierce and Kittitas counties are also conducting searches, he said.

The area consists of steep, rocky and sometimes narrow ridges, he said.

“Conditions are really rough and we’re trying to do everything we can as quickly as possible,” Briscoe said.

Meanwhile, Fowler’s stepmother has been inundated with Facebook messages from other hikers who were on the trail with Fowler.

“They said he was a strong hiker, a smart hiker, and fast hiker, and that he’d often get off the trail to shoot photos.”

He’s an amateur photographer, she said.