Washington’s Spokane County (Spokesman-Review) After going missing during a family huckleberry picking trip, a 62-year-old man was discovered Monday afternoon after spending a large portion of the weekend wandering around the Boyer Mountain region.
The search and rescue teams from Stevens and Pend Oreille counties, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Air Division, and the Washington State Fish and Wildlife department searched the isolated area where Harry Lashbrook vanished on Friday afternoon for three days. However, a statement from the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office stated that Lashbrook was able to locate safety for himself.
Lashbrook informed Pend Oreille County deputies that he got lost in the woods and hiked until he discovered a house after arriving safely at a remote residence over five miles from where he was last seen. The huckleberries he had already collected, the announcement adds, were sufficient for his survival.
The sheriff’s staff noted that Lashbrook seemed healthy and eager to return home with family, aside from being exhausted and hungry following his two nights in the bush.
To find out more about the experience, the Spokesman-Review tried several times to get in touch with Lashbrook, the people who lived in the house where he was placed, and the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office. Prior to publishing, those requests for comment were not answered.
Although the picking season for huckleberries will last until September, those who are interested in finding them will need to travel higher in elevation as the season progresses. According to The Spokesman-Review, the northwest is experiencing a bumper crop this year, with some local pickers gathering up to a gallon and a half every hour.
As long as the haul is for personal consumption, interested foragers are permitted to gather up to two gallons of berries per day on park grounds in Washington and up to three gallons every season in the Colville National Forest. Personal picking is also permitted in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest.
The Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office issued the announcement, reminding anybody heading into the backcountry to pack appropriate clothing and survival gear and to be ready for the prospect of spending more time in the woods than anticipated.
