KCAW news intern Erik Neumann and his friend, Lacey Carnahan, pose at the firehall with the Sitka Mountain Rescue team who assisted them off Lucky Chance ridge. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
An unbelievable streak of beautiful summer weather came to an abrupt end Thursday evening (8-15-13) as heavy clouds and fog rolled in. KCAW summer news intern Erik Neumann — on his very last day in Sitka — was descending Lucky Chance ridge from Pinta Lake with a visiting friend, Lacey Carnahan, when they were enveloped in fog and lost their bearings. It’s the story of the Rescue Where Everything Went Right: Neumann and Carnahan had a VHF radio and notified the Coast Guard that they were going to be delayed, they had camping gear (but no tent!), and food and a stove. After discussing their situation with Sitka Mountain Rescue over the radio, they decided to wait out a soggy, foggy night on the ridge. Sitka Mountain Rescue mobilized at 4:30 AM this morning (8-16-13), climbed up the ridge from Silver Bay, and led the pair down.
Luckily, Neumann produced more news than he made during his ten weeks as a reporter for KCAW. Here’s some of his work:
Kake: 25 years of suicide prevention with natural foods
Backyard boatbuilding in Sitka preserves ties to maritime past
Should Sitka be a mecca for electric cars?
Erik Neumann is headed back to the Bay Area for his second year in the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, where he’ll have fresh perspective on the role of storyteller and subject. Thanks for an awesome summer, Erik!
