Seachers with the help of a sharp-nosed dog named Gandolf 12-year-old Boy Scout Michael Auberry about 11 this morning. Searcher Misha Marshall said Gandolf detected Michael's scent and alerted rescuers. When they approached Michael, "he was a little disoriented, but he's great," Marshall said. "It took him a minute to realize we were there for him," she said.



Michael was found about 1½ miles from the campsite from which he disappeared. Michael was "weak but in good condition."



Michael was across the stream from the trail when Gandalf caught his scent, she said. He wasn't calling for help, but he wasn't crying either, and he appeared to be in good physical condition, she said.



"He just said, 'I'm hungry,'" Marshall said. And he wanted some water.



Joe Ware, Assistant Fire Chief in McGrady, said the boy told the rescue team that picked him up that he had been drinking some water out of the streams in the area.



"He was calm," though a bit disoriented as he talked to the rescuers, Ware said. "He wanted peanut butter crackers and water."



Aerial footage showed Ware and other rescuers carrying Michael from a white sports-utility vehicle into a ranger station in nearby Laurel Springs. Police held a large, white sheet over the boy as they carried him into the station. The boy needed minor medical treatment for dehydration. Auberry reached the Blue Ridge Parkway shortly before 1 p.m. Shortly afterward, he and his parents gathered at a parkway office.

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