On Saturday 7-18-25, the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a 60-year-old missing hiker inside the Caribou Wilderness in western Lassen County.
The experienced hiker left basecamp for a day hike with his dog and became disoriented. He found cell phone service and called home to update his wife about the situation. He turned his phone off due to low battery, planned to stop moving for the night then find his way back to camp Sunday.
Two Deputies and a Sergeant responded to the area of Hay Meadows and hiked to Beauty Lake in search of the missing person and his dog. They were unable to locate them and scheduled a second attempt Sunday morning.
At about 8:30 AM Sunday morning, a Deputy and Lieutenant responded to the area and located an unattended base camp with the assistance of California Highway Patrol Helicopter H-14. They completed a search of the Beauty Lake area finding steep rocky terrain and were unable to continue searching on foot. The Lassen County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team activated and responded with 5 ground searchers and a 2-person horse team to follow.
The information was also provided to the Lassen Volcanic National Park due to the possibility the person may have entered the park looking for help. At about 6:00 PM boot and dog tracks were lost in the vegetation northwest of Beauty Lake. Due to approaching nightfall, searchers returned to the staging area. The search continued Monday morning with an additional 2-person horse team from the Lassen County Sheriff’s Posse, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue along with helicopter RAVEN, United States Forest Service personnel, and a secondary search inside Lassen Volcanic Park started.
Just before 10:00 AM RAVEN located the missing hiker and his dog about 1.9 miles northwest of his basecamp. RAVEN provided food and water to them as the team of horses responded to the location. The missing person and his dog were led back to the Beauty Lake basecamp safely. The missing hiker was in good condition and denied any type of medical assistance. His sole complaint was that he was tired.
The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the California Highway Patrol, the Lassen County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team, RAVEN, the Lassen County Sheriff’s Posse, the Lassen Volcanic National Park and the United States Forest Service for their teamwork leading to a successful mission.
Sgt. Tim Heffley
Lassen County Sheriff’s Office
