Leave No Trace

MISSING MAN: MATTHEW HERNÁNDEZ

STILLWATER, Ore. —

Police are asking the public for help locating a missing man.

Matthew Hernández is described as a Hispanic man with short dark hair and a moustache. He is 5 feet, 11 inches, and weighs approximately 185 pounds. According to Stillwater Police, Matthew is reportedly wearing a dark blue jacket, black cargo pants and a black backpack.

“It is our understanding that this is very out of character for Mr. Hernández and we are concerned for his wellbeing,” said Stillwater Police Department Cpl. Cathy Siken.

The 35-year-old was last seen at approximately 6 A.M. Friday outside his home in Stillwater. He drives a white Toyota 4Runner and frequently hikes alone in the Stillwater Mountains. Residents of Stillwater and Lower Riverbend are asked to contact police immediately with any news of Matthew’s whereabouts.

—

Halfway along the switchback, Matthew gets the urge to cut straight through.

It’s been two hours since he set out. The drive had been short but unpleasant, everything cold and foreboding under the grey-white cast of first light. Matthew wondered whether he would prefer hiking in the spring and summer months; come October, dawn always felt more like a warning than a greeting. By the time he had reached the Pine Needle trailhead, the sun was just starting to creep out from behind a distant peak and sparse birdcall had begun to fill the early morning silence. Matthew had watched for a long moment, transfixed, as day broke like a poached egg over the forested mountainside, its yolk dripping golden over a sea of evergreen. Warmth washed over his cheeks and into his line of sight. While he stood there squinting through the brilliance, the Stillwater Mountains had seemed to defrost before his eyes. It was October, yet the trail unfurled before him like a yellow brick road, clean and bright and promising. Beckoning.

Usually, it takes Matthew longer than two hours in the bush to lose his head.

It’s never the safest bet, cutting through a switchback on a mountainous trail like this one. Nearly a year of traversing the Stillwater Mountains has taught Matthew as much, his few foolhardy attempts ending in scraped knees and more time lost than made up for. Yes, bushwhacking on a slope is dangerous and tiresome, and rarely worth the risk and effort. Matthew knows this, so he can’t say why he acts in spite of it, pausing his ascent and pulling off the main trail to take stock. Sure enough: the switchback continues for another mile or so, according to his crumpled map, and it will likely get steeper before it levels out. The forested terrain that brackets this section of the trail is rocky and root-bound, and the spindly trees in these stands won’t make good handholds when the unstable ground inevitably gives way under his feet. It doesn’t make sense for Matthew to cut ahead, no matter what the pull in his gut has to say about it. He shakes the impulse off and tucks his map back into the side pocket of his pack.

—

HIKERS ASKED TO PRACTICE VIGILANCE ON STILLWATER MOUNTAIN TRAILS

STILLWATER, Ore. —

The Stillwater Wilderness Safety Association (SWSA) is asking residents to “exercise additional caution” when hiking the Stillwater Mountains and surrounding trail networks in a statement released Monday.

This reminder comes one week after the disappearance of local hiker Matthew Hernández in October. “It’s been a real wake-up call for us,” said SWSA Vice President Melanie Grant. “We all feel so safe hiking there [the Stillwater Mountains], but it just goes to show, you never know what can happen.”

The SWSA will be holding a Wilderness Safety Refresher next Thursday, October 17, at 5 P.M. in Oceanspray Park. Grant and her associates will cover basic wilderness first-aid, edible plant and fungi recognition, animal safety, and ‘Leave No Trace’ practices. The event is open to the general public and entry is by donation with all proceeds to the Hernández family.

—

Hour three trickles by, syrupy slow and unforgiving. By the time the trail smooths into a straight shot, the dull ache in Matthew’s calves has sharpened, blaring loud and bright red with each step. Likewise, the urge to deviate from the trail has intensified from a sporadic whisper to a constant hum. He stops to rest at the base of a small hill, crouching down and sloughing his pack off his shoulders to root around for sustenance. He isn’t hungry—Silvia had boiled eggs yesterday in preparation for the week ahead, albeit somewhat begrudgingly after last night’s argument, and Matthew had eaten two of them before heading out the door—but maybe food will help to calm the churning of his stomach. He fishes out a granola bar and shucks the wrapper off, tossing it somewhere in the bush and ignoring Melanie’s chiding voice: “Stow away, don’t throw away!” Matthew had joined the Stillwater Wilderness Safety Association because he’d wanted something to do, not because he’d wanted someone nitpicking his every move.

Matthew chews slowly, mechanically, while he contemplates the instinct to abandon the main trail. The ground is more level now, he supposes, and the trees are few and far between. There would be little risk of getting lost or injuring himself, which are his two paramount concerns. Suddenly, Silvia’s words from the previous night reverberate through his mind. “You need to start thinking about how your actions affect things,” she had said, her tone one of weariness rather than rage. Righteous indignation flares in Matthew’s chest as he recalls the pitying expression she had turned on him then. “Things other than yourself.”

Slinging his pack over his shoulder, Matthew steps off the main trail.

—

TOWN RALLIES AROUND MISSING HIKER

STILLWATER, Ore. —

Residents of the nearby town of Stillwater are ramping up efforts to find missing hiker Matthew Hernández.

The 35-year-old was last seen approximately four weeks ago outside his Stillwater home and is believed to have been heading out for a solo hike of the Pine Needle Trail.

“As the winter weather rolls in, there’s a real concern for his ability to survive, if he’s still out in the bush,” said Tim Jones, a friend of Hernández’s and a longtime hiker of the Stillwater Mountains. “The more of us [that] go out there and look for him, the better chance he’s got of us finding him and [him] making it out okay.”

Evidently, Jones’s sentiments are shared by his community. Each and every weekend since Hernández’s disappearance, Stillwater residents have come together to conduct day-long searches along the Pine Needle Trail. Now, with the support of over 150 local volunteers, the Stillwater Wilderness Safety Association (SWSA) plans to carry out a full week of daily searches, citing the fast-approaching winter storm season.

“All we can do is hope that he’s okay,” said SWSA Vice President Melanie Grant. “Matthew isn’t the savviest hiker, [and] he’s fairly new to the area and new to hiking in general, so it’s possible he didn’t recognize the danger of going off the trail or encountered something he wasn’t equipped to handle.”

The Riverbend Herald would like to take this opportunity to remind residents of Upper and Lower Riverbend of the importance of wilderness safety. Riverbend’s own Wilderness Safety Collective (WSCR) is a useful resource in this regard. For more information, visit www.wildsafetyriverbend.org.

—

Matthew hears the water before he sees it.

He recognizes the sound, a rushing that drowns out the birdsong and gives voice to the mounting excitement he feels the further he goes from the main trail. He picks up the pace, ignoring the protests of his burning shins, eager to see where instinct has led him. He scrabbles up a craggy outcrop, losing his footing twice and sending stray pebbles cascading down the mountainside.

There. A small basin carved into the contours of the rock.

Matthew approaches the tarn, his heartbeat thundering in his ears, and stops short of the water’s edge. Something isn’t right, and it takes Matthew a moment longer than it should to put his finger on it.

The little lake is perfectly still, its waters flat and placid as glass.

He creeps toward the tarn and crouches down to examine it. The water looks clear and fairly shallow, sunlight dancing across the cerulean surface. If not for its sound like a babbling brook, the pool would be ordinary by all accounts. As Matthew tries to concentrate again on the rushing noise, on the feeling of euphoric anticipation it had stirred within him, the cacophony dissipates, replaced by the weighty silence of disappointment. Matthew’s heart sinks as he stares into the pool with its utter lack of hidden depths. He feels cheated, betrayed by the crystalline waters that seem to peer innocently back at him. He had strayed from the trail for a simple tarn. What a waste of time.

The water looks drinkable, at least. It’s a small consolation to Matthew, whose bottle is still half-full from the last spring he’d refilled at, but he unscrews the cap regardless.

One moment, Matthew is leaning forward to dip the mouth of the bottle into the pool. The next, he’s thrashing wildly under its surface.

Matthew has always been a strong swimmer, but the tarn churns and swirls around him so forcefully as to render him feeble. Panic is leaden in his lungs. An invisible steel wall, a cold and uncompromising pressure, crushes him from all sides. His legs move as if through wet concrete, each frantic kick slower and heavier than the last. The glint of sunlight signalling the surface disappears from view, obscured by the dark and murky black that threatens to swallow him whole.

Clinging to the last remnants of oxygen that power his clumsy movements, Matthew recalls the old proverb after which his new hometown had been named. Still waters run deep. Then, on the heels of the thought, Melanie’s favourite saying: “Leave no trace.”