Editor’s note: This story has received a final update after live reporting to reflect that rescuers successfully found the man.

Following a roughly five-hour search, a 50-year-old man was found alive after he went missing near Upper Cataract Lake Wednesday night.

The man was part of a hunting party camping near Upper Cataract Lake. After venturing out, the group split up, and the man did not return to camp Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

He was found alive and uninjured around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, so rescuers escorted him back to camp. He was located off trail and “not far” from the group’s campsite, Summit County Search and Rescue Group spokesperson Anna DeBattiste said.

The call for assistance went out Wednesday morning, DeBattiste reported, and the search began around noon.

At about 3:30 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office said it was on scene and had requested the assistance of a Black Hawk helicopter from the Colorado National Guard High-Altitude Aviation Training Site in Eagle.

“They’re so far back, it would’ve been over a six-hour hike to reach them,” Summit County Sheriff Jaimie FitzSimons said prior to the man being located. 

He said rescuers would have had to march uphill for six hours before they could even begin the search, FitzSimons explained.

A Flight for Life helicopter was also on scene, but their helicopters have a lower carrying capacity, FitzSimons added.

This story is from SummitDaily.com.