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Thru-Hiker Rescued on the Pacific Crest Trail
A Canadian PCT hiker was rescued from the trail on August 25 near Seiad Valley, California (mile 1657). The thru-hiker, who was not named, slipped and injured her ankle. The injury was severe enough that she could not hike out, so she activated the SOS feature on her Garmin inReach.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol Air Operations worked to determine the hiker’s exact location using a helicopter. They then attempted to extract the hiker via helicopter but could not due to terrain.
With an air evacuation impossible, the Sheriff’s department called upon a volunteer ground Search and Rescue (SAR) team. The crew worked all night in dense brush and steep terrain to extract the hiker on a wheeled litter. Eight miles later at 5:00 a.m., the hiker was safely delivered to an ambulance and taken to the hospital.
Volunteer Search and Rescue team hiking in to rescue the injured hiker | Photo courtesy of Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department emphasized in their Facebook post the importance of having a satellite communicator when hiking in remote areas. Devices like the Garmin inReach, Zoleo messenger, and iPhones models 14 or newer offer emergency satellite communication. These can alert rescue teams to your location in an emergency.
Trek contributor Ariella Nardizzi recently had to use the SOS feature on her Garmin on the Colorado Trail. In her blog post about the event, she writes, “I’d never imagined I’d need to utilize my medical training and Garmin SOS on the trail — but I am eternally grateful that I had both.”
Both the rescue on the PCT and Ariella’s stories have happy endings, in part due to satellite messengers. For the hiker on the PCT, her Garmin InReach enabled her to access quick medical care and rescue; for Ariella and her hiking partner, the ongoing connection with rescuers offered them additional security while hiking out following severe illness.
Featured Image courtesy of Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office
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Comments 2
Absolutely insane as a country that we spent endless resources on a hiker in the middle of nowhere with a broken ankle (to be clear this is good!) and let thousands of homeless people die in the streets. Depressing priorities.
She was using an InReach — maybe she paid for the associated SAR insurance. I do.