Searchers Scour Torreys Peak For Lost 70-Year-Old Hiker

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) -- Searchers are covering the terrain around a pair of popular 14,000-foot Front Range peaks in hopes of locating a 70-year-old male hiker last seen Tuesday near the top of one of the mountains.

The hiker, described as 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds with a gray goatee, was last seen just above the knife edge portion of Kelso Ridge, the eastern ridge of Torreys Peak.

Searchers were notified Tuesday evening and made initial efforts until midnight, then hit the trails again at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning.

They plan to search Thursday if the hiker is not found.

"Luckily we have good weather for the next 48 hours," said Dawn Wilson of Alpine Rescue Team. "Hopefully we find him today."

A Flight For Life medical helicopter dropped off a search team Wednesday in the saddle between Torreys and Grays Peak, located a half mile away.

A Colorado Army National Guard helicopter from the military's High-Altitude Aviation Training Site in Eagle is providing additional aerial support. A hoist technician from Alpine Rescue Team is aboard the craft. The technician is capable of lowering to a patient, stabilizing them, and attaching the patient's harness to the copter's cable for an airlift downhill.

The Civil Air Patrol's Cellular Forensics Team is assisting, too.

Alpine Rescue's Wilson said approximately 100 cars were crowded along the road to the Grays-Torreys trailhead, giving searchers hope that many pairs of eyes on the peaks will help find clues related to the man's disappearance.

Wilson said the man's family is also on scene and aiding in the search.