73-year-old hiker broke her ankle on trail near Mt. Baker. They came to her rescue
A search and rescue team from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island airlifted a 73-year-old female hiker Monday who suffered a broken ankle on the Yellow Aster Butte Trail in Whatcom County.
The search and rescue crew was alerted about the injured hiker at approximately 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19, and told that a hoist rescue would be required, according to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island news release Tuesday morning, Sept. 20. After getting more information from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office and Whatcom County Fire District 14 rescue crews that had hiked to find the injured hiker, the crew launched at approximately 6:30 p.m.
The crew arrived on location and found the winds and high elevation of where the injured hiker was located too dangerous for a hoist rescue, according to the release, so the helicopter landed approximately 60 yards upslope on the crest of a nearby ridge.
With the help of rescue personnel already on the ground, the injured hiker was carried to the helicopter and flown to St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham for medical treatment, arriving shortly before 7:30 p.m., the release states.
So far this year, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island has conducted 31 missions throughout the state, including nine MEDEVACs, 17 rescues and five search operations.
Yellow Aster Butte is located within the Mount Baker Snoqualicum National Forest, less than seven miles north of the Mt. Baker Ski Area.
