El Dorado crews search Desolation Wilderness for missing hiker near Lake Tahoe
Searchers are working to find a hiker who has gone missing in El Dorado County’s Desolation Wilderness.
Jason Coughran, 60, set off Monday from Fallen Leaf Lake near Lake Tahoe and has not been seen since, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said.
Sheriff’s deputies and El Dorado Search and Rescue crews are searching the backcountry for Coughran, who was last believed to be near the 8,588-foot Angora Peak about 11 a.m. Monday. Angora Peak, on the south shore of Lake Tahoe, is often accessed near Fallen Leaf Lake.
Fallen Leaf Lake is near the California-Nevada state line, about 1 mile southwest of Lake Tahoe.
Coughran was last heard from about 4 p.m. Monday, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement late Tuesday. Coughran is 6-foot-2 and 150 pounds, with brown hair, hazel eyes and an athletic build. He is believed to be wearing khaki shorts and possibly other unknown clothing, sheriff’s officials said.
National Weather Service forecasters expect a chance of showers Wednesday morning in the Lake Tahoe area, with a chance of afternoon thundershowers. Expected highs range from 41 to 51 degrees. Snow levels are forecast at 6,500 to 7,000 feet, with a possibility of up to 2 inches of snowfall. After nightfall, temperatures are expected to drop into the 20s and 30s, forecasters said.
Anyone hiking in the Desolation Wilderness area near Fallen Leaf Lake who encountered Coughran was asked to call the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office at 530-621-6600 or 530-573-3051.
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