Search stepped up for missing hiker on High Sierra peak
A search is intensifying for a Bay Area hiker missing near one of the highest peaks in the Sierra Nevada.
Officials said Tom Heng, 31, of San Rafael, left Sunday for what was supposed to be a day hike to the summit of Mt. Langley, which rises to 14,026 feet, on the boundary between Inyo and Tulare counties.
Earlier in the day, Heng had been hiking with friends on a route that passes from the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead through New Army Pass. He struck out alone to the peak, one of California's 12 "fourteeners," mountains with more than 14,000 feet elevation.
Heng made it to the top, signing a register at the summit, said Sequoia National Park spokeswoman Dana Dierkes.
He was last seen Sunday about 1 p.m. about 13,000 feet. Heng is 6 feet tall, 166 pounds with short black hair. He was wearing a white T-shirt, blue pants, a tan full-brimmed hat and sunglasses. He was carrying a black-hooded sweatshirt and wearing size 11 North Face mid-rise hiking shoes.
Helicopters, staff from Sequoia-Kings Canyon and Yosemite national parks, the Inyo County Sheriff's Department and members of search and rescue teams from across California are involved in the search.
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-- Diana Marcum
Photo: Mt. Langley. Credit: U.S. Government
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