David Blake, AT Hiker Missing/Endangered

The following is a reprint of an article appearing in the Marietta Daily Journal.

No new evidence at Kennesaw Mountain Park of Missing Marietta Man After Weeklong Search

by Jon Gargis Mar 16, 2018

Despite dozens of searchers scouring the area and exhaustive efforts from law enforcement agencies, a Marietta man missing since March 7 and last seen at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park has yet to be found.

Attempts to find 25-year-old David Blake — a 2011 graduate of Harrison High School and avid hiker, according to police and Blake’s Facebook page — began March 9 after he was reported missing.

Among the latest efforts was a search party Thursday that included 60 members of Cobb County’s Community Emergency Response Team, which investigated a wooded area not far from where his car had been found left in an overflow parking lot in the park.

“With the county, we organized a search because the family had search volunteers that really wanted to help,” said Chief Ranger Anthony Winegar with the National Park Service. “We organized a search of a couple of small areas over near Stilesboro Road and Barrett Parkway. Evidence early on in the search had pointed us in that direction.”

Thursday’s search by CERT members lasted eight hours, according to county spokesperson Ross Cavitt, who accompanied the searchers for a portion of that time to chronicle their efforts. He said the area for the search was chosen based on location data from Blake’s cell phone.

Thursday’s effort followed days of searches through various means, Winegar said, with some of the earliest on March 9 consisting of a Georgia State Patrol helicopter that searched from the air and a bloodhound from the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office that searched from the ground.

A search team, including CERT members, searched areas of the park March 10, with successive efforts held earlier this week consisting of further searches, including cadaver dogs that found no indication of a decomposing body within the search area.

This week’s searches have turned over no further clues that may point to where Blake may have gone, Winegar added.

“At the end of that search (Thursday), we sat down with the family, and said, ‘This is all the evidence we have, including concrete, solid evidence, and Facebook tips and everything else. We have exhausted all of that,’” Winegar said. “We haven’t come up with anything new, any sign that he is here. He has left no evidence that he is here with the exception of the car.”

On-duty park personnel continued the search for Blake on Friday but were expected to go back to normal daily operations Saturday if no trace of him was found, Winegar said, unless credible information on his whereabouts are reported. But rangers will still look for signs that may point to Blake’s whereabouts amid their daily routine.

“We have a very good idea of where people go in this park, and where people seldom go, and we are concentrating on the places where people seldom go,” he said. “This place is so busy — my theory is that if he were here and he were hanging out somewhere near the busy places, he would have already been found. So we’re going to the places where we know people don’t go very much, and there aren’t that many of those.”

Blake is 6-feet-1-inches tall, weighs 155 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes, according to a missing persons flier posted online by his mother, Neill Holladay Blake. On her Facebook page Wednesday, she thanked those who had offered her and her family prayers and support, adding that they had received several tips on where Blake might be.

“We refuse to give up hope of finding him safe,” she wrote.

Click here to open a .pdf that gives further information

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is offering a Leave No Trace Trainer Course in Southwest Virginia!

ATC will be providing a Leave No Trace Trainer Course for partners and volunteers on June 9th and 10th. The course will be held at the Mountain Shepherd Survival School in Craig County, VA which is about ~40 minutes from Roanoke.  As you all know, frequently we host courses down at Mount Rogers so this is a great opportunity to have a course that is more centrally located for the central Virginia clubs. 

Participants of the Trainer Course will learn about the seven principles of Leave No Trace, and techniques for disseminating these low impact skills. Trainer Courses are designed for educators, guides, volunteers, agency employees and other outdoor professionals.  Successful graduates of the Trainer Course gain skills to teach Leave No Trace techniques and ethics to other hikers, the general public, friends and family in a variety of settings - such as schools, camps, parks, wilderness and front country areas.

The course is $60 for the general public and $40 for our partners and volunteers. Scholarships are available for A.T. partners on a "first come, first served" basis thanks to the U.S. forest Service. This course will involve two days of hiking with frequent stops to learn, discuss and practice the Seven Principles of Leave No Trace. 

Lodging is available on Friday prior to the course for folks who are traveling in from longer distances. This course typically includes an overnight on the A.T., but if backpacking is a barrier for any participants or the weather looks miserable, we can return to Mountain Shepherd for Saturday night lodging as well. All meals for Saturday are provided, as well as breakfast and lunch Sunday. Amazing Leave No Trace education is also provided.  See Link for more details.  

ODATCers Hike Tennessee

by Lisa Bagby

In 2017, four of our own ODATC members, took off for Tennessee to experience the Appalachian Trail as it meanders through the beautiful mountains of Tennessee.  Read of their adventure and experience the beauty, vicariously, of this majestic region.  Read More.