PICKENS — A hiker reported missing the day before turned up safe and sound at Table Rock State Park just as search teams assembled to look for him last Friday morning.

Pickens County Emergency Management was alerted at around 1 p.m. on Thursday of a missing hiker on the Foothills Trail.

Information led searchers to begin searching in Oconee County and Transylvania County, N.C., but several personal items found on the trail indicated that the hiker was likely on the Pickens County section of the trail.

Search and rescue teams from Oconee and Pickens counties, along with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, began riding the shoreline of Lake Jocassee by boat to check several locations where the Foothills Trail accesses the lake, while other teams began a land search in the Jocassee Gorges area, checking several camping and overlook areas. Search crews operated until 3 a.m. Friday morning eliminating search areas.  

Teams were reassembled at 8 a.m. Friday morning to begin hiking sections of the trail. As the search team assigned to Table Rock State Park began working, the missing hiker walked out into the parking area. 

Crews assessed the hiker and found no medical help was necessary. The hiker was tired but otherwise doing well.

Search and rescue personnel from Pickens County Emergency Management, the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, Pickens County rescue squads, the Vineyards Fire Department, the Holly Springs Fire Department and the Pumpkintown Fire Department responded to the call for assistance.