A hiker who was found dead Friday in Oregon‘s Mount Hood National Forest was identified by authorities as 33-year-old James MacDonald.
MacDonald leaves behind his wife Amanda Seeley MacDonald and four young children, including one-year-old twins and two boys aged four and six.
A GoFundMe set up for his family has already pulled in more than $114,000 on the way to a $130,000 goal.
MacDonald, who was reportedly an experienced hiker, left last Wednesday to hike alone on Mount Hood, a mountain with a 11,249-foot peak.
MacDonald never returned and by 7:30pm on Wednesday, worried family members reported his absence to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, OregonLive reported.
James MacDonald, 33, is pictured with his wife Amanda and their young children
Foot tracks were found on the snowy Paradise Park Trail by sheriff’s deputies and volunteer searchers on Thursday night. The next morning, they were able to follow the tracks to MacDonald’s body
Sheriff’s deputies found MacDonald’s body on the Hidden Lake Trail Friday morning and discovered he hadn’t packed supplies that would last him longer than a day’s long hike.
Searchers had found his tracks in the snow the night before on the Paradise Park Trail.
MacDonald was a physician approaching the final years as a diagnostic radiology resident at Portland’s Oregon Health & Science University.
He had also reportedly celebrated his ninth wedding anniversary with his wife shortly before he suffered what police have ruled a tragic accident.
Ben Seeley, MacDonald’s brother-in-law, said Amanda and his kids were expecting him home for dinner the day of his hike.
‘My sister was worried because she didn’t have contact with him. There was no cell reception. And so she when he was late and didn’t come home after the hours passed, she called search and rescue,’ Ben told KATU, a local ABC affiliate.
At first, the family was given small bits of hope, as police kept finding evidence of his presence on the trail, including footprints and a dropped water bottle he dropped.
MacDonald was a physician approaching the final years as a diagnostic radiology resident at Portland’s Oregon Health & Science University
Pictured: The peak of Mount Hood viewed from Trillium Lake
MacDonald, pictured with his two young boys, often took them out on hikes, according to his father-in-law
‘We thought, «Okay, maybe he’s making his way down the mountains,»‘ Ben said. ‘As the second night came we started to just get really worried knowing that he wasn’t planning to be up there overnight. His jacket was in the car.’
James Seeley, MacDonald’s father-in-law, described his daughter’s husband as a family man, an avid hiker and someone with a great sense of humor.
James told KGW8 that MacDonald would often go on solo hikes and take beautiful pictures. He would sometimes take his kids along.
‘They called it their adventures. Take the boys out, go on hikes, spend time with them, and they loved it,’ James said.
Ben said MacDonald was like a brother to him and issued a dire warning to other hikers.
‘Be careful and avoid hiking alone. I mean, there’s so many unpredictabilities and things that you don’t expect to come up,’ he said. ‘Prepare for the unexpected because you just never know.’
‘Just cherish relationships, life can be startlingly short sometimes, and things like this are just a reminder of what’s important,’ he added.
