A 69-year-old Bellingham man who went missing while hiking near Rainbow Ridge near Baker Lake Saturday, Aug. 11, was rescued from a steep hillside drainage and returned home Tuesday, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office.

Albert Filosa was found by searchers at about 11 a.m. Tuesday in a "rough, challenging and potentially hazardous area," near the 2,200-foot level in the North Cascades, according to the sheriff's office.

Filosa was very hungry after spending three nights in the mountains, but he was not injured, the sheriff's office reported.

The man told rescuers he got lost while trying to find the trail to Rainbow Ridge. After walking through the woods for a while, he was unable to find the parking lot or the road again.

Filosa followed a stream and drainage downhill toward Baker Lake until he couldn't walk any further because the hillside became too steep, the sheriff's office reported. The experienced hiker found a small cave-like opening on the hillside, where rescuers located him Tuesday morning.

Search and rescue volunteers from Whatcom and Skagit counties started searching for Filosa at 7 a.m. Sunday. They searched the ridge and the surrounding area but were unable to locate him by nightfall. The search continued Monday and Tuesday with several dog teams, searchers from Bellingham Mountain Rescue and helicopter assistance from Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.

Volunteers helped Filosa get to the trailhead Tuesday afternoon, where he was finally able to get a ride home.

RAINBOW RIDGE TRAIL

View Rainbow Ridge in a larger map

Reach ZOE FRALEY at zoe.fraley@bellinghamherald.com or call 756-2803. Reach SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL at samantha.wohlfeil@bellinghamherald.com or 360-715-2264.