A section of the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington's Goat Rocks Wilderness
Posted on 10/05/2026 9:31:49 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
A hypothermic hiker called for a rescue on the Pacific Crest Trail near Washington’s Goat Rocks over the weekend after a winter storm brought 60 mph wind gusts and snow to the area, collapsing his tent.
Ongoing weather challenges kept helicopters grounded. Instead of relying on air support, a five-person Tacoma Mountain Rescue team hiked 8 miles overnight to reach the hiker. By 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, they successfully located the hiker, who was in his 20s, and began efforts to warm and stabilize him.
Two rescuers stayed overnight with the hiker in a two-person tent. The following morning, the rescuers and the rewarmed hiker hiked back to the trailhead. On the way, they met rescuers from the Pierce County Explorer Search and Rescue team who brought hot chocolate to the group. Chris Hill, a spokesperson for Tacoma Mountain Rescue, told Backpacker that the hiker was “doing well when [rescuers] handed him off.”
While September is a popular time of the year for hiking and backpacking, conditions in Washington’s high country can dramatically change as summer transitions into fall. At high elevations, hikers can be particularly vulnerable to rapidly changing weather, especially amidst strong winds and precipitation. Hill said that September storms like the one that happened over the weekend are “more common than most people think.”
“In fall especially, people still have a summer mindset, and weather in the lowlands can be mild and summer like,” he said. “But at the same time, the weather on the high mountain can be truly full-on winter and brutal. The shoulder seasons as our busiest times with the ‘biggest’ missions. People get surprised by the weather, they are not prepared, and helicopters can’t be relied on to pick off subjects like they can in the stable summer months.”
Hill said that the hiker’s decision to carry a satellite communicator was a good one. “What this person did right was to have a way of communicating (sat device) – especially as a solo hiker – plus he called early,” Hill said. “You see how long it took to get to him without helicopters. It takes time to get specialist SAR teams to remote locations who are capable of going into those difficult conditions.”
A section of the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington's Goat Rocks Wilderness
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Back in February, a young woman, also in her 20s, froze to death on New York State's highest peak. She died before 9 pm after falling and getting hurt. Rescuers searched frantically for her, but arrived too late.
Two rescuers and the young man in trouble crammed into the two-man tent to warm the young man enough so he could hike out. S&R "coziness"!
Good thing he was carrying his satellite communicator! If he hadn't, he probably would have died. I always carry my Garmin InReach Mini with me even though I'm only out on day hikes in more populated areas. Here was yesterday's hike at Farragut State Park in North Idaho. This is "Buttonhook Bay" on Lake Pend O'Reille. Those are the Green Monarch Mountains on the opposite shore of the lake. No sudden snowstorms sneaking up on us yesterday! I do have to admit that I "still have a summer mindset." Of course, there were nine boats on the bay yesterday and kids jumping off the boats into the lake. Easy to convince yourself it is still summer.
It just dawned on me that in spite of doing a lot of hiking in my life including backpacking deep into the Sierras, I can’t recall a single time I hiked into the wilderness by myself.
He obviously made mistakes but until the story gets more details we won’t know what they were.
I wonder what kind of sleeping bag he had, a serious solo hiker shouldn’t be getting hypothermia unless something happened like going into water unexpectedly under conditions that would interfere with how he had planned for such an emergency.
This guy should have done what Hollywood movies have people stranded in a snow storm do. Just dig down near a pine tree, get out some damp leaves or pine needles. Then break off some small branches from a tree, strike two rocks together and up comes an instant fire. /s/
I’ve actually watched a lame movie or two where the survivalist did just what I described.
Even more lame is a true story published by the USAF magazine called Airman back in the 70’s. I’ll never forget it because it was so stupid. Two airmen were stranded in a storm in the woods. They removed the engine hood from their truck, leaned it against the front of the truck to make a lean-to, got in it and survived. What the idiots overlooked was the truck cab itself was a much better and wind proof shelter. All they had to do was just stay in the pickup.
Glad the guy in the thread’s story survived.
FTA—— the hiker’s decision to carry a “satellite communicator’ gave him a way of
communicating as a solo hiker – plus he called early when he knew he was in trouble.
Yes. Basics: Know how to dig a snow cave. Carry necessary survival gear. Basics that every Boy Scout used to be taught.
Ping!.................
My buddy got lost one time...said.... I got down on my knees and prayed. He never went alone again.
We don’t know what happened but did he not monitor himself closely enough in sweating and eating and monitoring his exhaustion level, his internal body heat, did he delay too long before setting up, did he camp in the wrong spot, did he have a wet down bag, he misjudged something unless an injury or illness had taken over, if things are right and balanced, then you should be able to just fitfully sleep through a bad day or two of weather and dealing with a tent and snow.
I have been in nasty snow storms in the middle of summer on mountains on four continents. So many times I can not remember. I was always prepared because it happens frequently. It adds more weight to your pack so you have to train for that.
Back around 1965, the son of one of my dad’s good friends left the house in a snowstorm after dark to walk to his girlfriend’s house. She lived close by. He got snagged on a barbed wire fence and froze to death. Apparently he thought he could cut through a fenced-in field to shorten his walk. This was in the suburbs outside Syracuse, NY!
I bought a couple of 10 pound ruck plates and started carrying one in my daypack. Total weight is not heavy (~22 pounds), but that burns a lot of additional calories and helps keep the legs strong (especially important after age 60). I plan to add the second ruck plate sometime.
Barbed wire can be deadly...
I’m not sympathetic.
In the 80s and 90s I thru hiked the AT, LT, CT, and sections of the CDT. I saw snow in July and traversed 11,000 ft passes in thunderstorms. No gps, no cell, no sat phones… just paper maps and compass. If I got lost, I had to get myself found. If I planned poorly and ran out of food or water, I went thirsty and hungry. If I hurt myself, I had to self rescue. If my gear failed, I was cold or wet.
I did most all those things just once, learned, and never did them again. But if I’d carried a phone and knew I could always call for help if things went badly, the calculus would be different.
Soooo...what is the guys name?
“But if I’d carried a phone and knew I could always call for help if things went badly”
That might be leading to over-confidence and bad decisions these days.
When I was training to go to the Himalayas for an attempt on 8,000 meter peak Cho Oyu I would train with another climber that lived in the Boulder, CO area and was going on this trip.
We would try to meet up 3 times per week on the way home from work to do a fast hike up Shadow Canyon and then turn either right or left at the top of the canyon to summit either Bear Peak or South Boulder Peak. Both were about 3,000 ft elevation gain. We would put milk jugs full of water in our packs for the weight and then dump them out at the top. Then we would hike down and be home before dark.
“Barbed wire can be deadly...”
Indeed. People don’t appreciate getting snagged on it and being unable to extricate yourself. Then you burn up all your energy trying to get unsnagged, start panicking...and...
I'd love to do Scotchman Peak near Lake Pend O'Reille, but 3,700 ft / 8 miles RT is a bit more than I can handle now I think. It's famous for mountain goats.
During your time on FR, you have apparently kept your canine identity a secret. Your posting abilities are are quite impressive.
😄
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