A Search and Rescue team makes his way across rough terrain of the Bishop Pass area as one of four search helicopters passes overhead during the massive effort to find hiker Ric DeVan, 44, of San Diego, who has been missing since last Friday. Photo courtesy National Park Service

By Mike Gervais
Register Staff

7-10-2008

Searchers continue combing the Eastern Sierra west of Bishop and Big Pine in search of a hiker who has been missing since Friday.
Ric DeVan, 44, of San Diego, was reported missing by his wife and daughter after he did not show up at a rendezvous point at Treasure Lakes on Independence Day.
According to the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department, DeVan, his wife and daughter set out together into the backcountry on Thursday, July 3. His wife and daughter planned a day-hike, while DeVan intended to camp in the backcountry, summit Mt. Goode and meet up with his family the following day at Treasure Lakes.
DeVan’s last confirmed location is the peak of Mt. Goode, where he reportedly signed the ledger there, indicating that he would next attempt to traverse Mt. Johnson.

Search teams are currently canvassing this “treacherous and extremely unstable” terrain between Mt. Goode and Mt. Johnson in their search for Ric DeVan, an experienced mountaineer who has been missing for nearly a week. Photo courtesy National Park Service

It is unclear if DeVan planned to climb Mt. Johnson during this excursion, or sometime in the future, but search efforts have been focused in the area between Mt. Goode and Mt. Johnson in the Bishop Pass area.
According to Inyo County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Carma Roper, “Friends and family members describe DeVan as an experienced alpine mountaineer.”
DeVan is said to have carried enough food for an overnight backpack trip and has a water filter with him.
Search teams who are scouring the backcountry looking for DeVan describe the route from Mt. Goode to Mt. Johnson as “treacherous and extremely unstable.” Not only that, but “coupled with the treacherous terrain are the snowmelts that have unstable ice bridges at lower elevations.”
“These ice bridges are particularly dangerous due to the high temperatures,” said National Park Service spokeswoman Erika Jostad.
In addition, the multi-agency search effort has began examining terrain from Mt. Agassiz to Mt. Gilbert and throughout the Treasure Lakes area.
Inyo County Search and Rescue is working closely with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office and Search and Rescue, Tulare County Sheriff’s Office and Search and Rescue, Kern County Search and Rescue, Yosemite Search and Rescue, Mono County Search and Rescue, China Lake Search and Rescue, the California Highway Patrol, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Overhead Assistance Teams consisting of Sierra Madre Search and Rescue and Montrose Search and Rescue, with a total of about 50 staff members participating in the quest to find DeVan.
The search effort is utilizing four helicopters courtesy of the CHP, Inyo National Forest, Sequoia-Kings National Park Service and San Bernardino Aviation Unit,  as well as canine search units.
“Every resource we have is being utilized,” said Inyo County Sheriff’s Corporal Terry Waterbury.
The missing hiker was last seen wearing a yellow climbing shirt with black side panels, tan pants, a light colored backpack, a gray jacket with black trim, a beige or green baseball cap and an orange, gold and purple National Geographic bandana.
“It is critical that anyone who may have seen or had contact with DeVan, especially after he signed the registration book on Mt. Goode on July 4, contact the Sheriff’s Department,” Roper said.
Anyone who may have seen DeVan or had any contract with him is asked to call the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department at (760) 878-0383.