89-Year-Old Hiker Found Safe After Nearly 10 Days Alone in Idaho Wilderness: 'Extraordinary Outcome'

The Custer County Sheriff's Office's announced that residents on horseback found him on Saturday, Aug. 10

• Bing Olbum, 89, went missing while on a hiking trip in Idaho that was intended to last only five days, but resulted in him spending 10 days total in the wilderness

• The hiker's camp was discovered on Aug. 10, and he was spotted the following morning, before being returned home at 3 a.m. local time

• Officials called Olbum's safe return "an extraordinary outcome for this incident"

An elderly hiker survived nearly 10 days alone in the Idaho wilderness during a trip that was intended to last only half that time.

The Custer County Sheriff's Office announced earlier this week that Bing Olbum, 89, had been discovered by locals on horseback around 12:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, August 11, following a days-long search for the missing hiker.

Olbum initially departed from the area's Hunter Creek Trailhead on Aug. 1, and as of the morning of Aug. 7, officials revealed he had not made it to his intended exit point of Mcdonald Creek. The sheriff's office initially shared the news on Facebook, noting that its search and rescue units were looking for Olbum.

Eventually, the office revealed in a post on Aug. 11 that the hiker's camp was discovered on Aug. 10 and that he was spotted the following morning, before being returned home at 3 a.m.

"Bing Olbum has been found and is home. It is an extraordinary outcome for this incident," officials wrote on Facebook. "Sheriff Levi Maydole is thankful for the relentless efforts of our wonderful community in providing this outcome. Bing's will to survive has resulted in an unbelievably good ending to this incident. We hope that his recovery is swift, and he will be enjoying time with his family and friends."

Related: Body Found in Search for Hiker Who Continued on the Trail Alone and Then Called Family in Heat Distress

Jennifer Olbum, the daughter of the now-found hiker, shared a post to Facebook on Aug. 8, asking for assistance before her father was ultimately discovered by rescuers. "For two days search and rescue have been unable to locate him which tells me he is hurt or worse and unable to lay out a tarp for the choppers to see," she wrote at the time. "Please let us know if you have any ideas as to the most likely place he’d have wandered off course or might have fallen among rocks/boulders."

Bing's daughter later shared an update, noting that her father was found "dehydrated but alive and well." Speaking with local outlet KIFI, Jennifer said her dad had been hiking by himself "intermittently for decades" and provided the family with a map of his latest venture before he left. She revealed that volunteers continued to find his belongings on Saturday, before eventually finding her father after he left a trail.

"It was just a lot of... I can't believe this. I didn't want to lose my father that way, disappearing into the woods," Jennifer said of their reunion. "No tears till I gave the first hug and then, you know, then we had to keep ourselves from killing him ourselves."

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Related: Body of 23-Year-Old Missing Hiker Found on Mills Glacier, Colo., 4 Days After Going Missing

According to Custer County Search and Rescue Coordinator Lincoln Zollinger, who spoke with CNN, Olbum had packed a tent, a pad to sleep on and a blanket. For food, he left prepared with beef jerky, salted nuts and iodine tablets for water. Per the outlet, he had a compass and a map to navigate.

Olbum was initially reported as a missing person on Aug. 6, as CNN notes that the Custer County Search and Rescue team searched for the hiker by land and air in the days to follow. Helicopters were provided by the Idaho National Guard and a private pilot, while the Idaho National Laboratory had drones search the area and local volunteers manned the on-the-ground search teams. “We’re still a really small community,” Zollinger told CNN. “They say, ‘stay off the mountain,’ well we’re going anyways.”

While in Salmon-Challis National Forest, Olbum dealt with temperatures ranging from the 40s at night to 90 degrees during the day time, per CNN. Zollinger told the outlet that Olbum did not make a fire during his time stranded in the wilderness.

“Just having so few supplies, five days worth of food, stretching it out that far is just amazing, in everybody’s eyes,” Zollinger told CNN. “We dealt a lot with the Air Force rescue, and even they were amazed at the outcome of this.”

“The biggest thing I see in him is his mindset,” he added, sharing that Olbum admitted he could've survived an additional three days in the wilderness. “And he said, ‘Well it was mostly my mind to keep going, to keep setting goals and keep moving forward.’ ”

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