The Disappearance of Fern Baird

It was a brisk fall day in October of 2020, when Fern Baird found herself visiting Ketchum, Idaho. From Park City, Utah, Fern was no stranger to the outdoors and hiking. She loved the outdoors, and not only enjoyed hiking but was also an avid skier- spending many years as a ski instructor.

On the morning of October 19, 2020, Fern Baird went down to the hotel front desk staff and asked for some recommendations on what to do in the area that day. The Prarie Creek Trail was suggested to her, and she decided that sounded like a beautiful hike.

She signed the guestbook at the trailhead, and set off to hike the nearly 10-mile loop, excited to view the different small waterfalls on her way to the lake.

On the morning of October 22, 2020, three days after Fern left for her hike, the hotel she was staying at realized that she had not been back to her room in three days. It would be the hotel staff that alerted authorities to Fern’s disappearance.

Her vehicle was quickly found at the parking lot for the Prairie Creek Trailhead.

There was no sign of Fern anywhere.

Where is Fern Alexandra Baird?

Fern Baird was a successful real estate broker in Park City, Utah. She also owned a bag company, called YopaBag, where her focus was on utility and sports bags for the outdoors.

In 2020, Fern was 62 years old. Her son was living in California, and she was enjoying time hiking and adventuring on her own. Her businesses were doing well and things overall were going great for Fern.

In October she took a trip up to Ketchum, Idaho. The reason for that trip is never explained, but Fern wanted to enjoy some of the outdoors while in Idaho. The state offers beautiful countryside, pine forests, mountains, and meadows, and Fern wanted to go exploring.

On October 19, Fern went to the front desk of the hotel and asked for some recommendations on what to do in the area. One hike in particular that the staff member mentioned, was the Prairie Creek Trail, part of the Sawtooth National Forest.

This sounded like just what Fern was looking for.

She drove up to the trailhead, parked her car, and walked over to the guestbook. She signed the guestbook at 1:17 p.m., and wrote along with her name,

“To the lake and back.”

The Prairie Creek trail area is actually a network of a few different trails. It was mentioned she was likely doing the Prairie Creek Trail which is a 10-mile hike out and back, and generally takes hikers anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours to complete.

In any event, whether Fern wanted to do a longer trail or one of the shorter ones, she was experienced. She was dressed appropriately. She was physically fit. Despite some of the trails being listed as moderately challenging, it should still be a doable hike for Fern.

There were some other hikers entering the trailhead around the same time who also signed the guestbook, but the trail is generally very lightly traveled.

Fern set off, happy to be enjoying nature and hoping to see some beautiful sights along the way.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel Fern was staying at, a few days went by before the staff noticed that Fern hadn’t returned to her room, and all of her belongings were left behind.

Blaine County Sheriff’s Department was quickly alerted, and immediately they decided to start a search of the area for Fern. It was now October 22, three days after Fern set off on her hike.

Fairly quickly her 2018 Subaru was located in the parking lot for the Prairie Creek Trailhead. Law enforcement noted that based on all of her belongings being left behind in her vehicle, they believed she had originally set off intending to do only a day hike.

She should have returned to her car by now.

Her signature was located in the guestbook, and it was timestamped at 1:17 p.m., October 19. There was another couple that signed the guestbook within minutes of Fern, as well as another family of five.

Law enforcement decided to send search and rescue out on the trails to look for Fern, fearing that she had become lost or injured, and they also set out to locate the other hikers who signed the guestbook around the same time.

They could possibly have some insight as they may have been the last ones to see her.

Around 40 search and rescue workers hit the trails in the next few days, looking for any clues or signs of Fern. They searched on foot, on ATVs, utilized trained search dogs, and even flew helicopters overhead.

But no clues, and no signs of Fern, were discovered.

Her family was insistent that while she was an experienced hiker, she wasn’t a daredevil. She stuck to the trails and made smart decisions. She never ventured off the trail as she knew the dangers that brings. It simply made no sense that she was nowhere to be found.

Unfortunately, by October 30, just 8 days after Fern was reported missing and eleven days after she was last seen, the search for Fern was called off due to weather conditions and the conditions of the terrain.

Nothing of Fern’s was ever found. It was as if she disappeared into thin air out in the Idaho wilderness.

The area of the Prairie Creek Trail is an interesting one. First, there are a few different trails that one can take, and hikers have had a lot to say about some of them.

In late 2019, one of the trails experienced a rockslide, making it virtually impassable. Hikers trying to hike to the lake that way found themselves having to turn back or find another way.

Could Fern have tried to go around the rockslide and went off-trail?

Others have said that the trail is very poorly marked, and there are many times when hikers aren’t even sure if they are still on the trail.

Yet another way a hiker could become confused and lost.

The 10-mile hike is listed as moderately challenging as well. Not necessarily a very easy hike. But Fern was no beginner either. She should have been able to navigate it without any trouble.

Fern was 62 years old. She was in great health, but could she have had a medical emergency out there all alone?

The Prairie Creek Trails are located within the Sawtooth National Forest. This park consists of over 2 million acres, 1000 miles of hiking, 81 campgrounds, 1100 lakes, and several ski areas.

It’s beautiful. It’s peaceful. It’s dangerous.

Fern’s family doesn’t understand how Fern goes out on this hike and never returns- someone with her experience and knowledge.

They quickly offered up a $25,000 reward for information leading them to Fern.

Authorities also spent a year locating other hikers who signed the guestbook around the same time. They finally did, however, they could not provide any additional clues or information.

A year after her disappearance, another organized search was conducted in that area. But again, nothing was found.

What do you think happened to Fern Baird?

Did she become lost? Inured? Have a medical episode? Why hasn’t anyone been able to find her?

Perhaps she wanted to disappear.

Or could she have run into foul play out there?

But again, there have been zero clues leading to that conclusion either.

Since her disappearance, her bank accounts, cell phone, and credit cards haven’t been touched.

Fern Baird is described as a Caucasian female, standing about 5’5” tall and weighing around 115 pounds when she was last seen in October 2020.

She has brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a light gray jacket, dark-colored pants, gray gloves, a dark-colored mask, and a dark-colored fanny pack.

Fern was 62 years old when she was last seen, and would today be 65.

Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of Fern Alexander Baird is asked to contact the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office at 208–788–5555.