August 5, 2009

0 Comments

Guardian One, King County Search & Rescue
Rescue 73 Year-Old Hiker

Yesterday, Guardian One and King County Search & Rescue members helped rescue an elderly hiker that had fallen nearly 200 feet and lay injured and helpless for 10 hours.

A 73-year-old man from Santa Cruz, CA left early Tuesday morning on a solo day-hike along the Pacific Crest Trail near North Bend.  This trail follows the major mountain ridge crests of the western United States for nearly 3,000 miles.  A portion of this trail is through the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, which is approximately bounded by Interstate 90 and Snoqualmie Pass to the south and U.S. Route 2 and Stevens Pass to the north. 

This person had hiked several other portions of the trail over the years and was looking forward to this section.

At about 10 AM, he slipped off the trail and tumbled approximately 200 feet below.  As he lay there, with multiple broken bones and other injuries to his head, hands, legs, and spine, all he could do was to yell out for help. 

"It was not until almost 8 PM that his cries were heard and the rescue was underway," said King County Sheriff's Deputy Travis DeFries.

Another hiker, a man in his 30s, faintly heard the victim’s pleas for help, and he made his way down to the location.  He phoned 9-1-1 and built a small fire to assist with being found by rescuers.  This area was on the northwest side of Alaska Lake near the Kittitas County border.

Once located, medics from Snoqualmie Fire Department were lowered down and they treated and packaged the victim.  Shortly after midnight, they were able to hoist the man back up into the helicopter and transport him to Harborview Medical Center. 

At about 2 AM, Guardian One was able to retrieve the rescuers left behind, including the citizen that first found the victim, and bring them back out to I-90 near Snoqualmie Pass.  This concluded the first nighttime rescue mission that involved hoisting a victim to safety for the King County Sheriff's Office.