Are We Missing Anyone?

[+Criminal]

I can't get to a news website that allows you to read news without registering, but there are two women lost on Mt Pilchuck. According to the news on TV, they had only a little water and half a sandwich between. They are wearing jeans and have only a sweatshirt each. They were not carrying the 10 essentials.

 

If anyone has a good link to the story (The KOMO4 news page only has this morning’s news story, nothing updated) please post it.

 

EDIT: Got a bypassword to the NWCN site.

 

 

Two lost hikers face second night in wilderness

09:35 PM PDT on Monday, May 9, 2005

From KING Staff and Wire Reports

 

EVERETT, Wash. - The search for two missing hikers grew more desperate Monday night. About 45 volunteers and Snohomish County deputies continued to search for two women lost on Mount Pilchuck.

 

Volunteers and deputies are searching for two women lost on Mount Pilchuck.

Deputy Dave Hayes said earlier Monday the two women were believed to be okay, but their cell phone died after they called about 7 a.m. Monday morning to say they were okay.

 

They said they are cold and tired, and don't know how to get down the mountain. Now they are faced with spending a second night in the wilderness.

 

Hayes said the Seattle-area women - one 23 and the other 32 - went for a day hike Sunday on the Mount Pilchuck trail off the Mountain Loop Highway east of Granite Falls. He said they were on the way down when they called before 8 p.m. Sunday night from the cell phone to say they lost the trail.

 

The women are not experienced hikers and are wearing only jeans and light jackets.

 

Authorities say hikers who get lost should stay put until rescuers find them.

Edited May 10, 2005 by Criminal

[+Stump]

According to the news on TV, they had only a little water and half a sandwich between.

Are you sure they're not lost in Dumas Bay?

 

I'd think if they were cachers they'd be able to pick up their trail. At least sometime within 24 hours. Sucks, hope they're okay.

[+EraSeek]

I did not steal their sandwich and put it in the Dumas Bay cache .

 

Wonder where they lost the trail. Maybe into the drainage or over into the logging area and missed the road and kept going, unless they somehow started going down the backside but that would be tough to do. Hmm.

[+Puppers]

I heard this morning that they were found (in good shape). Sure enough, here's the Kiro TV link.

 

http://www.kirotv.com/news/4470043/detail.html

[+Stump]

From the news story: "They got lost, called for help on their cell phone but couldn't tell rescuers where they were."

 

Definitely not cachers. Glad to hear they're okay.

[+willcall]

Dang - wouldn't one of those GPS gizmos have been handy? That or a Lojack

[+evergreenhiker!]

I'll have to email my friend John. He's involved in that search since it's Sno county and he's SAR or Search and Rescue volunteer. Actually Criminal met him...we took him hiking for his 100th find some years ago. Good guy to know.

 

He told me about a Pilchuck event some months ago whereas some guy wore just tennies up Snowy/icy pilchuck. Needless to say, he slid to his death off a cliff and they fouind his body headfirst in the snow...the feet were sticking out of the snow.

[+Criminal]

Yes, I remember John well. Horror stories all the way to Gothic Basin. Here's an update on the lost hikers:

 

Missing Hikers Found On Mt. Pilchuck

 

May 10, 2005

 

By Molly Shen

 

SNOHOMISH COUNTY - Two women dug a hole in the earth and huddled together to survive two long, rainy nights in the woods of Mount Pilchuck in Snohomish County.

 

They were cold, wet and hungry - but otherwise OK - when searchers finally found them Tuesday morning.

 

It was the greatest hope of 50 searchers from five counties.

 

23-year-old Melanie Umpai and 32-year-old Sarah Shin went for what was supposed to be just a day hike Sunday.

 

"We slept and curled up and tried to stay as warm as possible," describes Umpai. "The first night wasn't as bad as the second night. The second night, just last night, it rained pretty significantly. It was the coldest I'd say I've ever been in my life."

 

She says they kept talking and kept each other's spirits up.

 

"Just a game plan as to where we would go. And convincing each other we'd be OK. And trying to stay level headed. We did OK," she said.

 

The two women were hiking off trail when they missed a switchback and got lost. They tried finding their own way out, but then called 911 Sunday night.

 

By Monday morning, their phone was dead.

 

But they knew searchers were on the mountain with them.

 

"We'd heard voices and tried to contact them," Umpai says. "We went back and forth. Voices would get closer then they would get farther and eventually it got dark and we decided to try and sleep and then this morning we heard voices again."

 

They were the voices of three explorers from King County Search and Rescue. The 25-year-old and two 16-year-olds spent the night on the mountain and were making one last search before heading down.

 

"It was pretty good," said Jason Lund of finding the hikers. "I was worried last night, kind of feeling like, leaving people up there, I don't want to do that."

 

Gallagher Wilson describes how the women reacted.

 

" 'Glad to see you,' " he said. "They were speechless at first, but you could tell they were happy to see someone else."

 

The rescuers gave the women warm clothes and hot chocolate.

 

"The only food they had were salt and vinegar chips and a bruised apple," says Wilson. "So we gave 'em some dried fruit and trail mix and made the hot chocolate and they said that was enough, they wanted to get moving."

 

Medics checked the women out at base camp. There were fears that their clothes were soaked through and they were in danger of hypothermia.

 

"We're just glad they found us today, because I'm not sure we could've taken another night up there," Umpai says.

[+evergreenhiker!]

Awesome! Glad they were found!

[+DrAwKwArD]

Wow, close call.

 

We all thought Law and Order was bad publicity. How about front-page news: "Treasure Hunters Lost on Mountain with GPS"

 

Never would we want that to happen!