Last Sunday morning, SAR received notification of a 911 call from the family member of a person who, along with their friend, was on Three Fingers Mountain trying to get to the old lookout. They had lost the trail the evening before in bad weather and spent the night on a ledge. They reported to the family member that they were very cold, everything was wet, and visibility was very limited.

Members from our Everett Mountain Rescue Unit, along with members from Seattle Mountain Rescue and Tacoma Mountain Rescue, our SCVSAR 4X4 Team, and our SCVSAR Operations Support Unit, responded to the remote location. By use of electric mountain bikes for the first team, and a 6 wheel ATV and Jeep for the following teams, they were transported the 8 miles of closed road to the trailhead near Tupso Pass.

The Mountain Rescue teams eventually located the subjects in the difficult weather conditions beyond Tin Can Gap. The stranded hikers were given some hot drinks and food, and additional dry clothes before being helped back to the trailhead and the waiting 4X4 teams, who returned them to the road and to their waiting family members.

Our Operations Support Unit, who had provided communications throughout the mission with the command vehicle, also had the food truck waiting to feed the subjects, their family, and the hard working, hungry volunteers.

Our Helicopter Response Team was also on standby, waiting for any possible break in the weather to help with the search. But on this mission, the weather never cleared enough for the helicopter to fly.

You don’t necessarily need to be super fit and go out into the (sometimes) harsh conditions. There are many positions available, such as with the 4X4 team, in the command vehicle helping with radios, mapping and documentation, or in our ever popular food truck (the favorite vehicle for SAR members).

For details about how to join SCVSAR visit: https://scvsar.org/volunteer/