Desperate search for missing bushwalker in remote WA hiking spot
An extensive land search operation is under way in remote Western Australia as authorities work to locate a hiker missing at Mt Augustus since Friday afternoon.
The hiker, a 74-year-old woman from Perth, had left for a quick 20-minute walk along Edney's trail when she failed to return, prompting a fellow bushwalker to raise the alarm at 2.30pm.
Mt Augustus is a renowned hiking destination approximately 850km north of Perth.Credit:TrailsWA
Carnarvon police started an unsuccessful initial search of the trail and surrounding area but called off the operation due to fading daylight.
A rescue jet was deployed overnight to comb the park but did not find the woman.
The search is continuing on Saturday morning with police from Carnarvon, Meekatharra and Burringurrah in attendance, as well as Department of Fire and Emergency Services volunteers from Carnarvon and Geraldton.
Mt Augustus, known as Burringurrah to the Wajarri people, is 2½ times bigger than Uluru and, at 1105 metres above sea level, it is popular with bushwalkers.
It is located 320 kilometres east of Carnarvon in a remote area of the Gascoyne region where temperatures at this time of year hit between 30-40 degrees during the day.
The national park made headlines last month after three bushwalkers were found dead in the area in less than a week.
Police first located the body of a 54-year-old on September 14 only to be called back to the national park two days later after walkers found the body of a man in his 60s on the summit walk.
After it was revealed he was travelling with a woman believed to be his partner a search began and she was also found dead hours later.
Police at the time said the separate events were not related by anything other than location, and none were deemed suspicious.
Marta is an award-winning photographer and journalist with a focus on social justice issues and local government.