Submitted by: Mel Rice Public Relations Officer
The Beaverhead Search and Rescue was paged out early Monday morning June 12, 2023. An emergency call was received by the Sheriff’s department around 12:25 AM that three 30 year old men had not returned home from a dirt bike trip in the Lacy Creek area off of the Scenic Byway. After several attempts to reach the men by phone with no luck, a deputy was dispatched to their starting point and SAR search managers were paged at 01:16 AM. After evaluating the situation, search managers Lawrence Morrisroe and Shane Puyear, authorized a full membership page at 02:04 AM. The first hasty team was deployed at 03:09 AM toward the Lacy Creek trailhead.
The lost individuals’ vehicles were located and the first hasty team, Sam Peterson and Toby Shepherd, was able to follow their tracks up over the ridge into Pattengail Creek. Hasty team #2, Cody Schnee and Cole Cottom, headed up around Bob Cat Lakes to try to intercept the overdue party on trails over the top of the ridge. Hasty Team 3; Nathan Freeman and Steve Mock, and Hasty Team 4; Adam Norlander, Parke Scott, Trevor Hyland and Donald Smith waited at the staging area where the vehicles were located for further instruction and act as communication relay to building command.
Hasty Team 1 determined the individuals headed up the Lost Horse trail out of Pattengail Creek. After riding for some distance the lost individuals tried to proceed along the trail but ran into much downfall and burned trees from the Pattengail fire a few years ago. They became totally exhausted and their dirt bikes had run out of gas. Therefore, they decided to spend the night.
The next morning, around 9:45, the three individuals were located by Hasty Team 1. All of the individuals then proceeded to walk down Reservoir Creek to the Pattengail trail where they could be picked up by vehicle. It was about a 3 to 3½ mile walk out to the Pattengail trail. Member Donald Smith drove his side by side up Pattengail to their location and proceeded to return the overdue men back up Lacy Creek to their vehicles. Hasty Team 2 made it up past Bobcat Lakes, over the ridge past Grassy Lake and Schwinegar Lake then out Lacy Creek to their vehicle.
The incident concluded around 3:00 PM with all parties accounted for and back in town. Other Beaverhead S&R members who worked the search from the building or checked in and gave notice of availability were: Trent Cottom, Chuck Maddox, Clint Rouse, and Mel Rice. “In the Business of Saving Lives”, your Beaverhead Search and Rescue.
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