A lost Spirit Lake/Superior man was located in the backwoods of Shoshone County last Friday following a nearly two-day long search and rescue operation.

The Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office reports that in the late hours of Oct. 5, dispatch received a call that Richard Curran, 44, had walked away from his campsite near Pegleg Mountain on the Idaho/Montana border and had not returned.

SCSO assembled a search team early the next morning in the vicinity and began to comb the area. Due to the vastness of the remote area, helicopter support from the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team was requested, along with ground units and K9 tracker teams placed on standby.

After suspending the search for the night, SCSO kicked things back up the following morning — now with assistance from the KCSO SAR ground units and the Civil Air Patrol.

SCSO Cpt. Jeff Lee explained that around 1 p.m. that day, a KCSO SAR unit was on NF-1222 Road heading to the command post (camp scene) location to assist, but just before they arrived to the camp, they located the missing hiker near the roadway in the North Fork Simmons Creek and East Fork Gold Creek area (NF-1222 Road and NF-1219 Road). This location is southeast of Avery and near the Montana border.

“The hiker was a little sore, hungry and exhausted but alive,” Lee said. “We want to thank the Civil Air Patrol and the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office SAR Unit for their help.”

As we approach big game hunting season, Lee and the SCSO stress that when planning to go into the wilderness, share your plan with someone and bring a map, GPS, food, water, shelter, fire source, good clothing, and much more.

“No matter where you go, please make sure you tell someone when you leave, your destination, the gear you have, how many people are going with you and when you plan on returning,” Lee said. “Remember, the more info you give them, the more info they give law enforcement if you don’t come home.”

He added that it's best to prepare for worst case scenarios with the gear to stay a night or two in the forest.

“A lot of great technology is now out there for text-type communication in the woods where cell service doesn’t exist.”