GRANITE FALLS – The latest of many rescues of lost hikers on Mount Pilchuck has highlighted requests to install signs at key points on the popular trail.
Two Seattle women were rescued Tuesday after spending two nights on the mountain with only windbreakers to protect them from the cold and rain.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office is working with Wallace Falls State Park to put signs at the trail’s trouble spots, said Sgt. Danny Wikstrom, coordinator of Snohomish County Search and Rescue.
Shawn Tobin, park manager for Mount Pilchuck and nearby Wallace Falls park, said he plans to scout the 3-mile trail this week for the best spots to place the signs.
“Part of the problem with Pilchuck is it is so accessible to the urban area, yet it is not an urban spot,” Tobin said.
Sarah Shin, 32, and Melanie Umpai, 23, inadvertently stepped off the trail at a spot on Pilchuck’s north side that disorients many hikers, Wikstrom said.
“There’s a dogleg in the trail (going up) that when you initially get out of the timber … if you’re not paying real close attention, you essentially make a right-hand turn that dumps you off the south side of the mountain,” Wikstrom said.
Sometimes missteps can be fatal. In March, Paul Toomey, 19, of Lake Stevens slipped in slushy snow and fell 200 feet to his death.
The sheriff’s office did not have records available Tuesday on how often Pilchuck hikers go astray. But Wikstrom said it is common enough that he usually sends rescuers up Kelly Creek, on the southwest side of the mountain.
That’s where the two women were found Tuesday.
They first called 911 on a cell phone at 7:48 p.m. Sunday to say they were lost. They said they were inexperienced hikers and not properly dressed, said Dave Hayes, a Snohomish County deputy. Wikstrom said they were wearing windbreakers and cotton clothing, which is a poor insulator when cold and wet.
Rescue teams from five counties, including mountaineers and horse teams, joined the search. Helicopters were grounded because of poor visibility due to rain.
Despite their efforts, Monday’s search was fruitless. The women’s cell phone battery died Monday morning.
At one point, rescuers passed within 100 feet of the women, Wikstrom said. The women could hear the searchers’ noise makers, but their return shouts were drowned out by sounds of rushing water and rain, Wikstrom said.
At 7:20 a.m. Tuesday, a King County Explorers Search and Rescue team found the women uninjured. They were cold, but not hypothermic.
Tobin, the park manager, said better signs will help, but there’s no guarantee people will read them.
“Unfortunately, it won’t stop this sort of thing, but maybe it will reduce it,” he said.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or s morris@heraldnet.com.
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