PORT ANGELES — After three nights of being lost, hungry, exposed to the weather and without his glasses in Olympic National Park, a missing hiker was rescued Wednesday.
Brian David Gawley, 39, of Port Angeles was found injured and hypothermic, but alive.
Gawley headed out Sunday afternoon for a day hike near Olympic Hot Springs in the north part of the park.
When he didn’t show up for work as a reporter at Peninsula Daily News on Tuesday, he was reported as missing by colleagues.
He was spotted at 2:20 p.m. by a contracted helicopter team as he limped down a canyon about 820 feet away from the Appleton Trail.
A U.S. Coast Guard Dolphin helicopter then flew to the scene and hoisted him out of the canyon.
An avid runner who is training for a high-altitude marathon, Gawley took three energy bars and a quart of Gatorade with him.
He was wearing shorts, a T-shirt and sneakers.
Gawley said he survived by drinking creek water and stretching his arms and legs at night to stay warm.
He kept his spirits up by thinking about escaped prisoners of war and repeating the mantra: It’s not my day to die.
“Although, I did waver on that,” Gawley said Wednesday from an Olympic Medical Center emergency room.
About 35 people were involved in the search and rescue mission, said Barb Maynes, park spokeswoman.
