Rescuers hunt for 66-year-old hiker missing in North Cascades

Search and rescue teams are trying to find a 66-year-old man who went missing while hiking in North Cascades National Park over the weekend, police said.

Thomas Simonseth, of Mount Vernon, Washington, was reported missing Saturday about 9 miles east of Marblemount, after he did not return from a day hike at Hidden Lake Trail, according to a news release from the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office.

When Simonseth didn’t return by 7 p.m. as expected, two friends with mountaineering experience went looking for him, but they were unsuccessful. They called the sheriff’s office at about 8:30 p.m. to report Simonseth missing and spent the night hoping to continue the search in the morning, according to the release.

The sheriff’s office, with the help of other agencies, started searching for Simonseth at 7 a.m. Sunday. Rescuers had no luck, but continued looking Monday morning.

“Please do not go up to the mountain and search. This is an active search with Search and Rescue Teams from all over the area in a coordinated effort to locate Mr. Simonseth,” the sheriff’s office said.