Hiker missing for 9 days found alive in California forest

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The family of a woman who was rescued after being stranded in the rugged Sierra Nevada for nine days said Sunday that she is recovering from surgery to set the broken bones on her lower left leg.

A search and rescue team found 62-year-old Miyuki Harwood of Orangevale, Calif., alive Saturday in an area east of Courtright Reservoir after Harwood used a whistle to get the team's attention.

"While searching in their assigned area, a mutual aid search and rescue team was able to make voice contact with person that was later identified as Ms. Harwood," Fresno Sheriff Margaret Mims said during a Saturday afternoon new conference.

Mims said Harwood, who became separated from a group of hikers on Aug. 20, was found in a remote, very rocky location. A doctor with one of the rescue teams was able to stabilize Harwood once she was found.

"She was conscious, she was talking, she's very, very grateful that she was found. She's grateful to all of the people that helped look for her," said Mims. "So we expect her condition to just improve as time goes by."

Mims said Harwood had no food, only a water bottle with a filter inside. She crawled for two days from where she was injured to a creek where she could fill the bottle.

She was in good spirits but exhausted when she was admitted at a Fresno hospital, her family said.

"Miyuki desires, above all else, uninterrupted rest and quiet," they said. "The best way to express your care and concern is to be patient and delay all means of contacting her."

More than 50 search and rescue personnel were safely airlifted from the area Sunday, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office said.

The search for Harwood was hampered by thick smoke from a wildfire that has burned 96 square miles nearby in the Kings Canyon National Park, authorities said.

Contributing: The Associated Press