Hike Safely

Carrying the right equipment and knowing the trail conditions is essential to safe travel in the backcountry.

In late June two hikers visited Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest.  There was no real plan and no preparation.  The husband and wife just wanted to spend a day on the trail.

Parking their car by Sparks Lake, they hiked in and encountered a trail partially covered in snow and crisscrossed with blown down trees.  It was not an easy trek but they moved forward.  As darkness fell the husband recognized they were lost.  The weather changed, temperatures dropped and it began to rain.

They carried little gear.  A bit of food and a cell phone; that was it.  By 1:00am the husband recognized that his wife was becoming hypothermic.  The husband called 911 around 4:30AM and the County’s Search and Rescue (SAR) team responded. 

Three hours later, around 7:00AM the couple was found by SAR.  The wife was wet, seriously hypothermic, delirious and unable to walk.  The couple was carefully and safely evacuated.  Both were medically evaluated at the local hospital and later released.

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