Chelan County Deputies And Rescuers Pull Woman From Enchantments

There's been another back country rescue in Chelan County as a woman was flown by helicopter out of the Enchantments over the weekend.

Deputies say she was not able to hike out of the area because of a medical condition that worsened at a high elevation.

Sheriff's Deputy Mike McLeod says a group of rescue volunteers found the woman at Colchuck Lake, but decided not to carry her out on a stretcher.

"A carry out on a wheeled litter at that distance and that altitude is just a miserable horrible thing,” said McLeod. "They wouldn't have been out until five o'clock in the morning."

Rescuers instead hauled the woman up to a helicopter landing pad and airlifted her out the next morning.

It was the second rescue at the Enchantments in the past couple of weeks. Chelan County Mountain Rescue was also involved in the rescue of two stranded mountain climbers at Cutthroat Peak in northern Chelan County in late April.

Chelan County deputies have had a busy several days. They were involved in the recovery of two men, one dead and the other critically injured in the Chelan area, who were involved in a gun battle Friday. In addition, they were part of a SWAT team operation that delivered an arrest warrant Friday.

A group of eight Chelan County search and rescue volunteers were sent in to rescue the woman Friday. Two of them stayed the additional night with her at the landing pad. Deputy McLeod and rescue member flew in Saturday morning to take the woman to safety.