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Information from Backpackinglight.com

*** URGENT ***

Backpacking Light editor KEN KNIGHT is missing after a hike on the Applachian Trail in Virginia.

If you saw Ken or otherwise know of his whereabouts after Sunday morning, please contact us at the following email address:

PUBLISHER@BACKPACKINGLIGHT.COM

About Ken

Ken is 5′4″ tall and approx. 180-200 lb. He is vision impaired, has dark hair, and is probably using a dry bag-style pack with an orange packbag.

Ken is an experienced AT hiker but his vision impairment may have caused him to lose the trail.

Point Last Seen

He was last seen on the AT on Sunday morning, around 9-10am, at Punchbowl Mountain, Blue Ridge Parkway, mile 51.7, in the area of Buchanan and Bedford, Virginia.

He’d been trailing behind a group and meeting up with them at their camp sites. On Sunday, he reported not feeling well and suggested he might go off the trail. The group did not see him since leaving Punchbowl Mountain on Sunday.

He was anticipated to reach mile 76.3 on Tuesday, which the rest of the group did. To date, he has not arrived, and he has missed his flight back home to Michigan Wednesday night.

Ken regularly blogs via iPhone when he has cellular coverage. His last known blog entry was Sunday morning, April 26, at 6:36 AM Eastern:

http://twitter.com/kenknight

Search in Progress

Ken’s family has been notified, and a search is currently in progress by NPS and VA State SAR.

Non-agency SAR and other volunteers interested in assisting with this search should contact us at publisher@backpackinglight.com, who is coordinating the efforts of outside volunteers with the SAR Coordinator on location. Please send your name, cellular phone number, and distance from SNP in your message, and then wait for further instructions.

Please Distribute This Info

Please distribute a link to this post as wide as possible via this tinyurl link via Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking avenues. Please copy and paste this exact text to retweet this info on Twitter etc.:

EMERGENCY @KENKNIGHT (KEN KNIGHT) MISSING ON A.T. IN VA: http://tinyurl.com/ded5tt INFO? EMAIL PUBLISHER@BACKPACKINGLIGHT.COM RT @BIGSKYRY

I am in contact with the NPS Ranger and the VA State SAR, the agencies responsible for the search and will relay info promptly them.

Best Regards, Ryan Jordan CEO Backpacking Light

View from PCT in SoCal

While out on the Pacific Crest Trail for a weekend day hike with my dad, I was reminded of a press release I saw on Backpackinglight.com.  The press release announced how Backpacking Light (BPL) and OHV/ORV groups were working together to preserve wilderness.

It seemed counterintuitive at first glance.  Howard Zahniser, in the Wilderness Act of 1964, defines wilderness as “A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”   I know when I enter a Wilderness Area, as declared by an act of government, I am not allowed to have mechanized or motorized vehicles.  So why on earth would an OHV/ORV group work to preserve wilderness?

What I learned is that the groups involved are looking for win-win solutions for OHV users and hikers/backpackers alike.  One example of such a win-win solution is aiming for zero emission OHV’s that are noiseless. 

Incase you are wondering what sparked these thoughts out on the trail, well it was a Saturday and people were out enjoying their weekend…I was looking for a quiet trail, which I got for most of the day, they were looking for tread for their non-noiseless OHV’s.