Sitka’s search and rescue team had a busy day Sunday (6-21-15), responding to two separate calls from hikers in need of help.
The first call came in around 1 p.m. on Father’s Day. Three hikers — Katy Pendell and Taylor White, both 24, and Kasey Davis, 39 — had taken a wrong turn climbing Bear Mountain when the fog set in, making it difficult to find their way down.
All three are Sitka residents and experienced hikers. White says the group was in good spirits the whole time and knew where they were, but called search and rescue just to be safe.
“Our decision was to call before it gets bad, before it’s a situation,” White said.
Video courtesy of Taylor White:
The hikers didn’t expect a full rescue operation — they called to ask for help navigating down the mountain. But SAR Captain Lance Ewers says because of their location and the conditions, search and rescue told them to stay put — and requested helicopter assistance from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka.
The helicopter team located the hikers and lowered three search and rescue volunteers onto the side of the mountain — with their supplies.
“All kinds of rope gear that they use to help people down these steep faces, harnesses and stuff,” Ewers said. “At the same time, we deployed a team on the ground that started at the trailhead to hike up the mountain.”
Those two volunteers hiked up from below, and reached a vantage point where they could see the hikers and rescue volunteers, and guide them through the steep terrain over the radio. All three hikers — and the rescue team — made it down the mountain without any injuries.
Ewers says the hikers called at the right time.
The Coast Guard came in to assist Sitka Search and Rescue on 6-21-2015 at Bear Mountain. (Photo courtesy Sitka Search and Rescue)
“We’ve seen where that recognition stage is what takes people the longest to realize. So great job in calling and asking for help before they got themselves where somebody got hurt,” he said.
Shortly after they returned from Bear Mountain, search and rescue received another call, this time for a hiker on Mt. Verstovia. Two people reported that a friend, a middle-aged man, needed help getting down the trail. Ewers says the hiker became ill due to exhaustion and lack of water.
A team was dispatched, including an EMT ready to provide fluids and other first aid if necessary. But by the time crews arrived, “He was able to muster up the energy needed to come down the trail at his own power,” Ewers said. “They located him just a few hundred yards from the trailhead and just assisted him walking out.”
Ewers praised the volunteers of the search and rescue team. “They love to help, they’re super knowledgeable, and super safe,” he said. “It’s such a great group of people.”
