Bicyclist found safe after being reported missing in the Mink Creek area

There were some tense moments for emergency responders on Wednesday night in the Mink Creek area near Pocatello when they were notified about a missing adult male bicyclist.

Bannock County sheriff’s deputies began to search for the bicyclist in the pitch black nighttime conditions and requested that Bannock County Search and Rescue and the Portneuf Medical Center emergency helicopter also respond.

In the end, with the helicopter in the air and Search and Rescue arriving at the scene, the missing man was found by a sheriff’s deputy.

The incident began to unfold around 10 p.m. Wednesday when the man’s wife contacted the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office to report that he had left to go on a bicycle ride in the West Fork Mink Creek area around 4 p.m. and had not returned.

The wife was especially concerned because her husband was only expected to be gone for a couple of hours.

Bannock County sheriff’s deputies began searching for the man and called in the additional air and ground resources to help.

Deputies were concerned because of the very dark nighttime conditions and the fact the man was from out of state and was not familiar with the West Fork Mink Creek area.

Around 11 p.m. Wednesday a sheriff’s deputy was at the West Fork Mink Creek trailhead preparing to set up a command post for the search and was talking to the man’s wife via phone when he spotted the light from the man’s bicycle heading in his direction.

The man met the deputy at the trailhead and explained that he had gotten badly lost during his bicycle ride and was in an area where there was no cell phone service.

The man was not injured and after being medically cleared by emergency responders at the trailhead he was reunited with his wife.

The couple had stopped in Pocatello while en route to another location when the man decided to go on a bicycle ride.

Authorities said the incident should be a seen as a cautionary tale about the need to be familiar with the terrain before venturing into the backcountry.

Wednesday’s 100-plus degree weather was also a concern for the emergency responders.

But in the end the bicyclist made it back to the trailhead and tragedy was averted.