Hiker vanished for days after solo trip in Washington. Then rescuers saw him waving
A hiker was rescued days after he didn’t return from a solo hike in Washington, deputies said.
The 26-year-old Seattle man left for a hike near Kelcema Lake on Tuesday, July 4, and was supposed to return home on Friday, July 7, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said in a July 11 Facebook post.
A “concerned friend” reported the man missing on Tuesday, July 11, deputies said.
After they searched the trailhead and found the man’s car, they sent a helicopter to search for him, the sheriff’s office said.
During the helicopter’s second circle of the area, rescuers aboard spotted “a long orange object about 3,700 feet up a steep drainage up the ridgeline,” deputies said.
They looked closer and realized the man was “waving to them,” the sheriff’s office said.
A rescuer was lowered to assess the man, who had a head and leg injury, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said they hoisted the man from the area and took him to a hospital for treatment.
Kelcema Lake is near the St. Louis Falls and several mountains and is about 70 miles northeast of Seattle.
