Austin King, 22, was last heard from in a series of voicemails to his family on September 17 in which he sounded disoriented and said he’d taken the wrong path
Missing hiker Austin King left a handwritten note on one of Yellowstone National Park’s highest mountaintops before vanishing.
The 22-year-old detailed his struggle against “ruthless” weather conditions during a solo ascent of the 11,400-foot Eagle Peak in Wyoming.
His last communications were voicemails to his family on September 17, where he sounded confused and mentioned veering off the correct path. Although sent from the summit, these messages didn’t reach his father Brian King-Henke’s phone until a week later, reports the Express US.
The note, which contains shaky handwriting, provides insight into King’s dire circumstances. “I can’t feel my fingers and my glasses are so fogged from the ruthless weather of the mountains,” he penned. He recounted battling rain, sleet, hail, and extreme winds, with visibility near zero due to heavy fog.
The note in the mountaintop registry described "ruthless" conditions (Image:(Image: -))
King admitted to free-solo climbingscaling without ropes or gear”too many cliffs” and taking an incorrect route from an adjacent peak. Finishing the note, he reflected: “I am 22 years old and will not forget today [for] the rest of my life.”
Before his disappearance, King had been working at Yellowstone for the summer and was set to return to his home in Winona, Minnesota, just days after he went missing.
He set off on the solo hike on September 14 and concerns were raised on September 20 when he didn’t appear for a planned boat pick-up. King’s vanishing triggered a massive search and rescue mission that is still ongoing.