For a second consecutive week, NAS Whidbey Island’s Search and Rescue answered the call to help wayward hikers.
Last Friday, the Armed Forces Rescue Coordination Center, Langley, Va., called the Operations Duty Office for assistance
in rescuing a 72-year-old man with a broken hip at Goat Lake on Gilbert Peak, just south of Mount Rainier.
According to Lewis County Search and Rescue, the man was located at the 6,500-foot level, 10 miles in from the nearest
road with no medical personnel nearby.
Launching at 4:57 p.m. was Lt. Patrick Smith, co-pilot Lt. Casey Bruce, crew chief Aviation Warfare Systems Operations
(AW) 2nd Class Christopher Wedding, AW2 Salomon Padilla and Chief Hospital Corpsman Greg Highfill.
Under clear skies and a slight haze, the crew successfully picked up the man and transported him to Harborview Medical
Center, Seattle and returned home at 8:22 p.m.
The next rescue involved three teenagers, ages 19 to 21, who spent a night in the Olympic Mountains Saturday after getting
lost in the fog. They ended up in a technical climbing area with no experience and no provisions.
The two females and one male had gone hiking on the north side of Mount Angeles Saturday morning. The National Park
Service called Sunday at 3:48 p.m. believing the trio might be in the beginning stages of hypothermia.
The SAR crew of pilot Lt. James Udall, co-pilot Bruce, crew chief Wedding, 2nd crew chief Padilla and corpsman Highfill launched
at 4:40 p.m. The teens were picked up at the 5,800-foot elevation and flown to Fairchild Airport in Port Angeles, where no
medical attention was required.
SAR returned to the air station 6:20 p.m., knowing there were four more hikers grateful for their service. Last week, SAR had
rescued two other hikers at Mount Baker and Mount Howard.