Search underway for backpacker missing in Yosemite National Park

July 5 (UPI) -- A search is underway for a man who went missing in Yosemite National Park over the weekend when he became separated from the group he was hiking with.

Hayden Klemenok was backpacking in Yosemite National Park with a group when at about 2 p.m. Sunday he entered Chilnualna Creek near a trail junction and did not re-emerge, park officials said Tuesday.

"His whereabouts are currently unknown," the park said in a statement on its Facebook page, while calling on members of the public who may have seen Klemenok or were hiking off trail in the area of Upper Chilnualna Fall around Sunday or later to contact them immediately.

"Simply knowing where you went and when you were there may help us focus the search, whether you saw anyone or not."

Klemenok was last seen wearing a tan brimmed hat, white sunglasses, a red t-shirt, blue swimming trunks and white Adidas shoes, it said.

The announcement comes as the park has issued an alert on its website warning visitors to stay out of rivers and creeks and off rocks near moving bodies of water as they can be slick.

"Rivers are surprisingly swift, cold and dangerous," it said. "Stay back from flowing water!"