The unusually warm days this week drew lots of people outdoors to enjoy the last few days of summer. Unfortunately for two male civilian hikers their day in the sun ended with a rescue by NAS Whidbey Islandís Navy Search and Rescue.

In two separate incidents on Sept. 15, the Operations Duty Office was called by the Whatcom County Sheriffís Office and Armed Forces Rescue Coordination Center, Langley, Va., respectively for helicopter support.

At 12:43 p.m., a 70-year-old man had fallen into a 25-foot crevasse near Hogsback Camp which is located at the base of Coleman Glacier at Mount Baker.

Weather conditions were ìexcellentî for the MH-60S Knighthawk aircrew of Lt.Cmdr. Nelson Craig, pilot; Lt. Scott Zenner, co-pilot; crew chief Aviation Warfare Systems Operation (AW) 1st Class James Barrailler, 2nd crewman AW1 Chad Lewis and Hospital Corpsman Richmond Roy. At the 6,000 foot level, they rescued the man and safely transported him to St. Josephís Hospital in Bellingham.

In the second rescue, SAR launched at 6:43 p.m. to pluck a hiker with possible spinal injuries off an unstable ledge after falling at Mount Howard near Lake Wenatchee in Chelan County.

The hiker was perched on a ledge at 6,100 feet with a 2,000 foot cliff below him. Coming to his aid were pilot Lt. Patrick Smith, co-pilot Lt. Jeremy Ethridge, crew chief AW1 Eric Debukarte, 2nd crewman AW2 Salomon Padilla and Roy as hospital corpsman.

The hiker was flown to a nearby parking area where a waiting ambulance transported him to a local hospital.

“The Sailors and civilians of NAS Whidbey Island SAR proudly stand ready for anything, every day of the year, in support of base operations and the greater northwest community,î said Lt.Cmdr. Werner Rauchenstein of NAS Operations. ìFor every one of us, successful missions like these are the greatest reward for our work.”