Hiking the Enchantments, an 18-mile trail that twists through jagged peaks and pristine, blue lakes, gaining over 4,000 feet of elevation in the heart of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, is one of Washington’s most daring pastimes.
It was one Eastern Washington woman’s fifth time on the trail since August when her blood sugar suddenly dropped, but a group of hikers who happened to lose their way found her and safely brought her to first responders. Among them was a certified rope rescue firefighter.
“I think we were kind of strangely prepared," said Solomon Ward, 20, of British Columbia, a second-year student at Whitworth University.
As its name suggests, hiking the Enchantments is nothing short of enchanting. Over 100,000 people make the journey each year, with many spending weeks or months preparing.
But for Nathan Elfers, 19, of Sumner, also a second-year student at Whitworth University, who braved the trail Oct. 18 with Ward, several other friends, their former high school track coach and his son, their adventure was, “kind of a last-minute plan.”
Elfers said the nine of them had talked about hiking the Enchantments for about a week before setting off Sunday morning. They originally planned to hike last Saturday, but one member of the group had to rearrange his work schedule, which set their expedition back by a day.
The hikers embarked from the western trailhead at 9 a.m. with hopes of clearing the entire route by 6 p.m., but they did not see paved ground until just before midnight, after their chance encounter with a stranger in need.
“I don’t think we would have found her if we, ironically, had been going the right way,” Ward said.
The nine hikers were 11 miles into the trail, a few miles past the almost vertical scramble up Aasgard Pass — The Enchantments’ highest point and most grueling stretch — when they lost the main trail, too caught up exploring the alpine landscape.
While searching for a way back to the trail, one member noticed someone huddled near a tree — a woman in her mid-30s. They were off trail, thousands of feet above sea level when they found her.
“She was just shivering and looked very weak,” said Noah Mitton, 20, of Puyallup, a third-year Whitworth student.
One member asked the woman if she needed help, to which she said she was struggling to stand or see. She'd been there for around 20 to 30 minutes before the hikers found her.
“She started to lose the ability to function, and, obviously, to me at this point, she also lost cognitive awareness of where she was because she was completely off the trail,” said Mark Timothy, the boys’ former track coach at Cascade Christian High School in Puyallup.
The 36-year-old Eastern Washington woman, who asked not to be named to protect her privacy, is an avid trail runner. She said she's in the mountains any time she has a day off and takes care to prepare for her time on the trail.
She is hypoglycemic, and that day, her blood pressure dropped unexpectedly.
“It just came on so sudden,” she said.
That's when she decided to sit down.
"I wasn’t able to see anytime I got up to walk, so I kind of sat down by the trail," she said.
The hikers gave her salt and water and sent an SOS signal using a satellite communication device. They were told authorities had been contacted, but after waiting over 15 minutes with no response, Timothy said his son, Justin Timothy, the firefighter, decided it would be safer to press on.
Justin Timothy instructed the group to make a stretcher using their hiking poles, bivies (the waterproof sacks hikers carry in case they need to spend a night on trail) and ropes.
“We worked as a team almost like a conveyor system, passing off the different handles of the stretcher to each other,” Ward said.
Around an hour into the group's descent, rescuers contacted the hikers, saying they wanted the group to wait for first responders at the top, but afraid medics would not arrive fast enough with the cold setting in, the hikers pressed on. They hiked toward Snow Lake, where a helicopter could meet them.
A 45-year-old Oklahoma woman died last month while thru-hiking the Enchantments after a sudden snowstorm swept through the mountains. Her husband, who had been hiking with her, was left with severe hypothermia.
While these hikers helped the woman get to safety, Chelan County sheriff’s deputies recommend hikers seeking search and rescue services stay put.
"The best bet would be to wait for rescuers," said Jerid Sutherland, a Chelan County sheriff's deputy.
"You should stay where a helicopter can land,” he said.
Sutherland also explained it's easiest to reach emergency responders using a satellite communicator, like a Garmin inReach, instead of trying to call or text 911, especially in areas with no service or unreliable service.
The descent to Snow Lake is rocky, squiggling between jagged drops and gains in elevation. Hikers who the men met along the way helped them maneuver their way down.
“The physically hardest part was trying to navigate the stretcher through some of those sketchy cliffs,” Mitton said.
Sunday was not his first brush with danger. Mitton said he's taken several “not-so-intelligent hikes” with friends in the past where they spent nights on trail without lights or proper equipment, but he said Sunday’s rescue was different.
“I've been in a few of these situations where I'm the one in danger before, and that never freaked me out,” he said. “This one definitely had a much bigger impact on me. … I'm definitely going to have to be more prepared going forward.”
The woman recovered well enough to stand up and hike the final 3 miles to Snow Lake before a helicopter, alongside Chelan County sheriff's deputies and medics, brought her to a safe place where her husband met her.
“I think there's a lot of miracles that happened, myself,” Mark Timothy said. “I mean, us to be there on a Sunday when we should have been there Saturday. Us to have a firefighter that knew rope rescue and how to do that. Us to have a group of young men that were so fit. … A lot of things that had to fall perfectly in place that don't just happen.”
According to Jessi Loerch, magazine editor and a spokesperson for the Washington Trails Association, hikers should always check conditions before starting a trail, especially as colder weather comes to the mountains.
“It’s important anytime you hike, but especially this time of year when conditions can change so fast or weather’s iffy, to be prepared.”
She said it’s important to remember the 10 essentials: navigation, hydration, nutrition, rain gear and insulation, a fire starter, a first aid kit, basic tools, light, sun protection and shelter.
Solo hikers should always notify someone else where they’re hiking and when they plan to return. While solo hiking can be a powerful and meditative experience, she said those who do it should be mindful of their physical limits.
“Solo hiking is not the time to push your boundaries,” she said.
Hikers should always be prepared to turn back in the face of danger or any conditions that make them nervous. As for hikers who come across someone else who appears to be in danger, Loerch said, they should make sure they are safe first.
“For instance, if you come across someone who’s maybe been injured by a rock fall, just assess the situation and make sure you’re not walking into a dangerous place.”
The woman Mitton and his friends rescued said she’s recovered, but “It’s scary how quickly something can go wrong.”
Still, she plans to revisit the Enchantments again when spring arrives. She hopes to bring her children to the trail one day, but for now, she said she’ll be bringing an emergency beacon each time she goes hiking or trail running.
“I can’t wait to go there again,” she said.
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