Missing hiker found — and she’s OK

Published 7:22 am Saturday, July 7, 2007

By The Associated Press

A hiker missing since Tuesday in Olympic National Park walked out on her own Saturday, and is in good condition.

Park spokeswoman Kathy Steichen says 45-year-old Mary O’Brien was “tired and hungry, but she does not need medical attention.”

O’Brien, from Arlington, Mass., failed to return Tuesday from a day hike in the Sol Duc River area.

She was reported overdue by a friend, and the search began Wednesday with dozens of ground searchers, a dog team and a helicopter.

Steichen says O’Brien came out of the woods at Lake Mills, which is in the Elwha River drainage east of Sol Duc. She flagged down a boat to get help and contacted authorities at 3:45 p.m.

Steichen says she doesn’t know exactly what route O’Brien took, but that she did “a lot of off-trail travel,” and ran out of food on Friday.