Port Angeles man, lost while harvesting mushrooms, spends night in woods amid search

Rickey Lee Smith, 50, was “wet, tired and hungry” when he walked into the Lake Pleasant Grocery at about 2 p.m., Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King said.

Rickey Lee Smith

Rickey Lee Smith

BEAVER — A man who went missing Tuesday while picking mushrooms walked out of a West End forest Wednesday afternoon, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said.

Rickey Lee Smith, 50, of Port Angeles was “wet, tired and hungry” when he walked into the Lake Pleasant Grocery at about 2 p.m., Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King said.

“He ended up sleeping under a tree last night,” King said. “But he was uninjured.”

Smith’s girlfriend reported that she and Smith had been picking chanterelle mushrooms on U.S. Forest Service Road 2902 when they were separated just before dark, King said.

The woman returned to her vehicle on Mary Clark Road and reported Smith as missing at about 7:53 p.m., according to a news release.

A Clallam County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue team began looking for Smith with help from Jefferson and Mason County authorities, King said.

Smith could hear the sirens but could not tell from where the sound was originating, King said.

A Coast Guard helicopter crew joined the search just as Smith was walking out of the forest.

Smith covered a distance of about 4 miles as the eagle flies through steep and rugged terrain, King said.

Smith was the third mushroom picker to go missing in the Cooper Ranch Road area of the Sol Duc Valley in the past month, King said. The others were carrying cellphones.

“If you’re lost and you dial 9-1-1, we have mapping technology to work our way to you,” King said.

“As long as you have good service, we can come find you. In this case, [Smith] did not have a phone.”

Meanwhile, the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office called off a multi-agency search for Quinault tribal elder Jerry Hyasman on Oct. 7. The 56-year-old had gone mushroom picking near Copalis Crossing on Oct. 4.

Tribal members and other volunteers continued to look for Hyasman last week.

Hyasman is 5-foot-7, 180 pounds with short gray hair, a synthetic left eye and a tribal tattoo on his left arm, tribal officials said.

Clallam County authorities were among those who looked for Hyasman, King said.

________

Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Peninsula College to continue without budget

Board expects plan in September

An Olympic marmot stands as the star of the show at Hurricane Ridge on Monday. These tourists from Alaska stopped and photographed the creature from a distance as he slowly ate his meal of wildflowers. The marmot is a rodent in the squirrel family and is unique to Washington state. The hibernating mammal’s burrow is only about 50 feet up the paved path away from the parking lot. The group had just photographed deer at the Ridge. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Olympic marmot

An Olympic marmot stands as the star of the show at Hurricane… Continue reading

Eighth-graders Saydey Cronin and Madelyn Bower stand by a gazebo they and 58 other students helped to build through their Sequim Middle School Core Plus Instruction industrial arts class. The friends were two of a handful of girls to participate in the building classes. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Middle school students build gazebo for academy

Businesses support project with supplies, flooring and tools

Frank Nicholson and David Martel.
Veterans in Warrior Bike program to pass through Peninsula towns

Community asked to welcome, provide lodging this summer

Special Olympian Deni Isett, center, holds a ceremonial torch with Clallam County Sheriff Brian King, right, accompanied by Lt. Jim Thompson of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Police on a leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run on the Olympic Discovery Trail at Port Angeles City Pier. Tuesday’s segment of the run, conducted mostly by area law enforcement agencies, was organized to support Special Olympics Washington and was to culminate with a community celebration at 7 Cedars Casino in Blyn. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Carrying the torch

Special Olympian Deni Isett, center, holds a ceremonial torch with Clallam County… Continue reading

Hopefuls for Olympic Medical Center board debate

Talk focuses on funds, partnership

An encapsulated engineered coupler used to repair a January leak. The leak occurred along a similar welded joint near to the current leak. (City of Port Townsend)
Port Townsend considers emergency repair for pipeline

Temporary fix needs longer-term solution, officials say

Traffic to be stopped for new bridge girders

Work crews for the state Department of Transportation will unload… Continue reading

The Peninsula Crisis Response Team responded with two armored vehicles on Tuesday when a 37-year-old Sequim man barricaded himself in a residence in the 200 block of Village Lane in Sequim. (Clallam County Sheriff’s Office)
Man barricaded with rifle arrested

Suspect had fired shots in direction of deputies, sheriff says

An interior view of the 12-passenger, all-electric hydrofoil ferry before it made a demonstration run on Port Townsend Bay on Saturday. Standing in the aisle is David Tyler, the co-founder and managing director of Artemis Technologies, the designer and builder of the carbon fiber boat. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Demonstration provides glimpse of potential for ferry service

Battery-powered hydrofoil could open water travel

Electronic edition of newspaper set for Thursday holiday

Peninsula Daily News will have an electronic edition only… Continue reading

Juliet Shidler, 6, tries on a flower-adorned headband she made with her mother, Rachel Shidler of Port Angeles, during Saturday’s Summertide celebration in Webster’s Woods sculpture park at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center. The event, which marks the beginning of the summer season, featured food, music, crafts and other activities for youths and adults. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Summertide festival

Juliet Shidler, 6, tries on a flower-adorned headband she made with her… Continue reading