The Nevada National Guard says a Nevada Army Guard Black Hawk crew rescued a motorcyclist near Nevada's northern border last week.
They said the crew had fifteen minutes of fuel left and would have been forced to abandon the search, before they spotted what they thought was the outline of a dairy cow.
They said a mix of rain and snow along with thunderstorms almost forced them to turn back as well.Â
The Nevada National Guard says the motorcyclist, Drew Martin of Oregon, was on day three of an eight-day road trip with two friends. They said his friends were on smaller motorcycles and decided to take a more adventurous route through the Pine Forest Range.
The Nevada National Guard says they planned to meet at Denio but as a storm moved in, Martin became stuck near Knott Creek Reservoir.
They said his two friends called the Sheriff's Office after they believed he was missing.
They said because of the remote location, the Nevada National Guard departed for the search around 5:30 p.m. on September 27 from the Army Aviation Support Facility in Stead. They arrived in Denio around 7 p.m. and met with Humboldt County Sheriff's Office deputy, Kyle Negus, who had been searching for Martin since that morning.
They said the crew spotted him shortly before nightfall as the weather worsened around 7:30 p.m.
The Nevada National Guard says they credit the successful search to their night-vision equipment, given the storm and nightfall made it nearly impossible to see the ground below.
They said the rescue happened about 30 miles south of the Oregon border and would have been a dire situation due to the mud created from the storm.
