Lost Hiker Quinn Coffman by Matt Pope | Sep 1, 2020 | Events On August 14th, the Posse was called out to assist the Fresno Sheriffs Department on a search for a lost hiker in the Woodchuck area above Wishon Reservior. 19 year old Quinn Coffman had become seperated from his father 2 days prior while hiking east toward Crown Pass. Quinns dad looked for him the entire day, but was unsuccessful. At that point Mr. Coffman decided to hike out and call for help. We arrived at the crack of dawn the following morning and headed in on the Rancheria Trail toward Crown Pass. Our mission was to block the trail heading south into Crown Valley and hopefully cut him off if he was headed that way. The Fresno Shefiffs Department Mountaineering Team was headed in from Woodchuck, which was to our north. We felt very confident that Quinn was most likely somewhere between us. Now it was just a matter of finding him and hopefully unharmed. Quinn had a very distinctive shoe pattern that we were looking for and at approximately 3:30 pm we got the break we were looking for. One of the members of the mountaineering team found his foot print just north of Elizabeth Lake on the Crown Pass Trail. The tracks were actually headed back north, which was a bit strange since we believed at the time he was coming from the north. When it comes to searching for lost people, often times there are many things that just do not make sense. About an hour after the shoe print was discovered, Quinn was found just north of Crown Lake. It appeared in his confussion, that he basically just kept walking in a big circle. Quinn was more than happy to see the search and rescue team and so grateful he was not alone. Quinn was absolutely exhausted and since we had an extra horse we thought it would be best to give him a ride. We got him up in the saddle, told him to hang on tight and we hit the trail. At this point, it was already getting dark and our camp was still 2 hours away. Navigating in the dark in the Sierra Nevadas is no easy task, especially when you are leading an inexperienced rider through steep rocky terrain. Not to mention coming across a “Rattlesnake” in the trail that we could barely see. What are odds of that??? Anyway, we made it back to camp safe and sound. Quinn was low on food, so we whipped him up some good ole’ Mountain House Beef Stroganoff and along with a gatorade he was feeling almost human again. The next morning we packed up early and headed on the 3 hour ride back to the trailhead. Shortly after that Quinn was reunited with his dad at Wishon Village. Most definitely a life lesson I’m sure Quinn will never forget.
