Authorities Hunt Hiker Missing In Sierra Nevada

BIG PINE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities are searching for a hiker who vanished after telling friends he planned to solo climb a nearly 14,000-foot peak in the Sierra Nevada.

Inyo County sheriff's spokeswoman Carma Roper says rescuers on Monday sought 60-year-old Gary Dankworth.

He left friends camped Saturday afternoon at Finger Lake in the John Muir Wilderness of Inyo National Forest to summit nearby 13,855-foot Norman Clyde peak, a difficult climb in the rugged Palisades section of the Sierra that contains four of California's highest peaks.

Climbers must scramble off trail over boulder fields, past glaciers and along a ridge with steep drops to reach the base of the steep mountain to begin the actual ascent.

When Dankworth failed to return by Sunday morning, his friends hiked out and called for help.