Last summer's missing hiker drowned

A Michigan teen who was missing in Glacier National Park for almost two months died by drowning, according to Flathead County deputy coroner Dick Sine.

Jakson Kreiser, 19, a seasonal employee with Glacier Park, Inc. at Lake McDonald Lodge, embarked on a day hike July 28 last year to complete the Floral Park Traverse.

The route, about half of which is off-trail, goes from Logan Pass, around Hidden Lake, below Sperry Glacier, over Comeau Pass and down to the Sperry Chalet trailhead near Lake McDonald Lodge.

But Kreiser never returned. Park personnel and local search and rescue crews searched for Kreiser for nearly two weeks without success.

His body was found by hikers southwest of Hidden Lake in a small waterfall drainage on a subalpine talus slope between two cliff bands. He was submerged in about four inches of water when he was found, Sine said last week.

The water was three feet deep at the time he fell in with whitewater from snow runoff, Sine said. Kreiser likely slipped while trying to cross the drainage and went in the water, which was just above freezing, and he was unable to recover.

Exposed to those conditions, a person instinctively gasps for air but instead suck water into the lungs. In addition, the heart slows and the body quickly experiences hypothermia, Sine explained.

The cold water preserved Kreiser’s body but also hid it from view of the search parties.

Drowning is the No. 1 cause of death in Glacier Park. Park officials warn people not to hike alone and if they do, to leave a detailed description of their route with someone before they leave.