The search for an overdue hiker headed to the abandoned bus where Christopher McCandless died, ended Monday morning with the hiker being found.
Carlos Castrejon, 45, of Mexico was located walking along the Park Road, Denali National Park spokeswoman Katherine Belcher said.
Belcher says 20 people were involved in the search for Castrejon, whose girlfriend reported him overdue returning from a solo 30 mile round trip hike from the park road to the Stampede Trail area bus and back.
Castrejon hoped it would take 3 days, but terrain was rougher than anticipated, Belcher.
He left Sept. 7, but had told his girlfriend he might not return until the 13, she said.
It’s the second time this summer that a search was launched to locate a hiker overdue on a trip to the bus.
Last month Mathew Sharp, 22, of Manitoba, Canada was unable to hike out from the bus because of high water on the Teklanika River.
He activated a personal locator beacon and was picked by an Alaska State Trooper helicopter.
The trek to the bus was popularized by the “Into the Wild” book and movie about McCandless.
Numerous hikers trying to reach the bus have been rescued, and one died trying to ford the Teklanika in 2010.
