58-Year-Old Missing Hiker Found Alive After 5 Days in Southern California Forest

58-year-old George Null was found after going missing for 5 days in the Buckhorn, Mount Waterman.
Twitter / Special Enforcement Bureau - LASD

The hiker said he became disoriented during the hike because trail markers were burned during California's wildfire season last year.

A 58-year-old hiker who was missing for five days in the Angeles National Forest in Southern California has been found in a remote part of the mountaintop.

George Null was found Wednesday in Bear Canyon in Buckhorn at about 2,500 feet, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Sergeant John Gilbert told CBS Los Angeles.

He was carried into the helicopter where he took a selfie with one of his rescuers.

"The mountaintop he came off of in order to get there is at approximately 8,000 feet, so over several days, he'd made a lot of progress downstream," Gilbert said.

Null is reportedly an experienced hiker, his sister, Rebecca Latta, told CBS Los Angeles. The hiker said he became disoriented during the hike because trail markers were burned during California's wildfire season last year.

He walked away with just a few scratches and blisters, his family said.

His sister told the outlet that when the two reunited "he gave me a huge hug."

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