An Ohio man found alive Wednesday on Mount St. Helens after six days lost in the wilderness sustained himself on berries and bees as he tried to find his way, his parents said. 
 
 Matthew Matheny, 40, of Warren, Ohio, set off for a hike on the famous southwest Washington mountain last Thursday. Authorities had launched a search and rescue operation that ended successfully when Matheny was airlifted to a Vancouver hospital Wednesday. 
 
 He was being treated mostly for dehydration and likely would stay overnight, parents Linda and Carney Matheny said during a press conference outside PeaceHeath Southwest Medical Center. A hospital spokesman said earlier that Matheny was in satisfactory condition, which means his vital signs were good and that he was awake and alert. 
 
 Matheny was scraped up, his parents said, including his feet, which were unprotected after the sandals he was wearing broke during the ordeal. His mother said she was going to "wring his neck" for his choice of hiking footwear. 
 
 Matheny was in Washington state visiting friends and decided to spend Thursday afternoon hiking while his friends were at work, the Mathenys said. He drove a friend's Subaru Outback to the mountain and later couldn't find his way back to the car. His friends reported him missing when he did not return, the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office said. 
 
 Search for missing Ohio man at Mount St. Helens 7 Gallery: Search for missing Ohio man at Mount St. Helens 
 
 On Saturday, a Skamania County sheriff's deputy found the Subaru unoccupied at the start of the Blue Lake trail, which is in Cowlitz County. The trail is located off Forest Road 81 and near Mount St. Helens. 
 
 Matheny was found about three miles away from the Subaru by a Skamania County-based rescue crew on the flanks of the mountain Wednesday morning. He hadn't seen another person since Thursday and was without water for days, his mother said, but the fluids from the berries may have been enough to keep him going. 
 
 Bees chased after Matheny as he moved about on the mountain, his father said, so Matheny killed and ate some. 
 
 "He knew it was a tough situation," said Linda Matheny, who arrived in Washington with her husband on Sunday. "But everyone who has encountered him have told us it's remarkable the condition he's in." 
 
 About 30 search-and-rescue personnel, assisted by helicopters, tracking dogs and a drone operated by the sheriff's office had been searching for Matheny daily, The Daily News of Longview reported. Matheny's friends and family also have been at the search scene. 
 
 Searchers on Tuesday decided to focus on a 1-square-mile area based on cellphone signals and a computer model that sought to predict Matheny's movements. 
 
 Charlie Rosenzweig, chief criminal deputy for Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office, called it "extremely unusual" that someone would survive such an ordeal, the newspaper reported. 
 
 According to the Washington Trails Association, Blue Lake Trail is a short walk through meadows and tall fir trees to Blue Lake. Beyond the lake hikers can access other trails and ridges, leading to views of Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams. 
 
 The parents described their son as a former Boy Scout who is interested in fitness and nutrition with a sense of humor and a knack for getting himself into humorous situations. They would recall some of the things he'd said or done to keep their moods light while the search was ongoing, but at times the laughter would turn to tears due to the uncertainty of the search's outcome, Linda Matheny said. 
 
 She said when they were called at their northeast Ohio home by authorities on Saturday and told the vehicle their son drove had been found, they waited by the phone for hours hoping the next update would be that he was found. It didn't come. 
 
 "By Sunday morning, we thought, 'We're getting on a plane,'" the mother said. 
 
 They flew to Portland that night, drove north to Washington, stayed in the area and went to the mountain on Monday. 
 
 The parents said they're ecstatic their son has been found and also in a bit of shock. They thanked all the emergency responders, volunteers and his friends who aided in helping find their son. 
 
 "We could not believe when we walked in here, he's sitting up in bed, getting fluids, talking to us," Linda Matheny said outside the hospital Wednesday. "We got Matt back." 
 
 — Everton Bailey Jr. and Jim Ryan 
 
 The Associated Press and Rebecca Woolington of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report ||||| COUGAR, Wash. (AP) — An Ohio man who was missing on Mount St. Helens was found Wednesday on a flank of the peak nearly a week after he set out on a day hike and survived by eating berries and bees, authorities and the man's relatives said. 
 
 Matthew B. Matheny, 40, of Warren, Ohio, was in good condition, talking and did not appear to have suffered life-threatening injuries but was flown to a hospital to spend the night as a precaution, the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. 
 
 His parents told reporters outside the Vancouver, Washington, hospital that he was being treated for dehydration and would stay overnight, adding that he ate berries and killed bees that he also ate. 
 
 Matheny, 40, was not familiar with the terrain, got lost and had not seen anyone since Aug. 9, they said. 
 
 Friends last saw Matthew Matheny when he borrowed a car and headed to Blue Lake Trail on the southwest side of St. Helens. They reported him missing after he failed to return, prompting a search. A sheriff's deputy found the borrowed Subaru Outback at the trailhead on Saturday. 
 
 About 30 search-and-rescue personnel, assisted by helicopters, tracking dogs and a drone operated by the sheriff's office searched for him daily. 
 
 Searchers on Tuesday decided to focus on a 1-square-mile (2.6-square-kilometer) area based on cellphone signals and a computer model that sought to predict Matheny's movements. 
 
 Blue Lake Trail is a short walk through meadows and tall fir trees to Blue Lake, according to the Washington Trails Association, Beyond the lake, hikers can access other trails and ridges, leading to views of Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams. 
 
 Matheny was found below a different trail, authorities said. 
 
 "He was in the free forest at this point. He lost the trail, he fell down the steep back," said Paul Pepper, another member of the rescue team. ||||| A hiker missing for six days on Washington state's Mount St. Helens survived on huckleberries and bees that he killed and ate, according to the man's parents. 
 
 Matthew Matheny, 40, who was visiting the area from Warren, Ohio, was found alive Wednesday on the side of the mountain leading up to the legendary volcano, the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. 
 
 Matheny was conscious and talking when rescue teams found him, authorities said. He was transported to a local hospital by helicopter, but it does not appear that he suffered any life-threatening injuries, according to the sheriff's office. 
 
 After visiting him in the hospital, Matheny's parents told ABC Portland affiliate KATU that their son was in good physical condition and had survived by eating huckleberries as well as bees he had killed. 
 
 "I don't know where he learned that," his mother, Linday Matheny, said, adding that he was a former boy scout. 
 
 Courtesy Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office 
 
 On Tuesday, authorities used cell phone records to determine that Matheny was in the general area of the Blue Lake Trail, near Mount St. Helens. Witnesses also told authorities that they saw a man in gray clothing in the area, according to the sheriff's office, which stated that he may have been wearing a gray Cleveland Browns sweatshirt, shorts and sandals that day. 
 
 Matheny had borrowed a friend's Subaru Outback last Thursday to drive to the mountain and go hiking. But after losing contact with him, the friend, Michael Bush, filed a missing persons report, and search and rescue teams began combing the area for him on Saturday morning. 
 
 Courtesy Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office 
 
 The gray Subaru was found unoccupied Saturday at the entrance to the Blue Lake Trail, authorities said. 
 
 Matheny was found days later in the general area of Blue Lake Trail, and members of his family were waiting at the base camp when he was located, according to the sheriff's office. 
 
 Matheny started out his hike with two liters of water and some snacks he had brought with him, but he was all out after Thursday and couldn't find any water sources, his parents told KATU. 
 
 STOCK/Getty Images 
 
 At least 40 people participated in the search for Matheny, Cowlitz County Sheriff's Deputy Charlie Rosenzweig told ABC News. A helicopter and drone searched for him from above, KATU reported. 
 
 ABC News' Cassidy Gard and Jennifer Watts contributed to this report.
– Matthew Matheny went for what was supposed to be a brief hike on Mount St. Helens on Thursday last week—and was airlifted to a Vancouver, Wash., hospital Wednesday when search and rescue teams finally found him. The 40-year-old Warren, Ohio, resident, who was in the state visiting friends, had borrowed a buddy's Subaru Outback to go to the trail, but he became lost in the wilderness and could't find his way back to the vehicle, the Oregonian reports. The search began after Matheny was reported missing and authorities discovered the unoccupied Subaru at the entrance to the Blue Lake Trail on the side of the mountain. He was treated overnight for dehydration, but authorities say he doesn't have life-threatening injuries—and he's lucky to be alive at all. Around 30 searchers took part in the rescue operation, which located Matheny in the general area of the trail, ABC News reports. Authorities zeroed in on a small area Tuesday using cellphone signals and a computer model that tried to predict his movements, the AP reports. His parents, who flew to the state days ago and are ecstatic that he has been found, say he apparently survived by eating berries—and by killing and eating some bees that had been chasing him. "He knew it was a tough situation," mother Linda Matheny tells the Oregonian. "But everyone who has encountered him [has] told us it's remarkable the condition he's in." She adds that she wants to "wring his neck" for his choice of hiking footwear: sandals.