Crews Rescue Westside Hiker Who Injured Leg In Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area

A Western Washington hiker is safe after being rescued on the Pacific Crest Trail in Kittitas County last week.

The Kittitas County Sheriff's Office says at around 3:30 p.m. on July 7 it received a distress call regarding a 60-year-old female from Arlington who'd injured her leg after tripping over a fallen tree near Waptus Lake.

A total of 13 personnel with Kittitas County Search & Rescue hiked about eight miles into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area after dark to reach the woman, who'd reportedly suffered a severe laceration and needed urgent medical assistance.

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Crews rendered first aid at the scene and had planned to use a wheeled litter to carry her to the nearest trailhead at Salmon la Sac. However, deputies with the Sheriff's Office were able to coordinate an air response through the Washington State Emergency Management Division, and a U.S. Army helicopter out of Yakima arrived to the location at around 6 p.m. and airlifted the woman to area hospital for further treatment.

A crew member from an Army air ambulance out of Yakima takes a selfie with an injured hiker whom he helped rescue from the Pacific Crest Trail near Waptus Lake. (photo credit: Facebook)

Sheriff's officials say neither the injured woman nor her hiking partner were at fault in any way, and that both are capable and experienced individuals who were well prepared and simply met with a bit of misfortune while recreating in a very remote area.