foggy colchuck lake. dragontail peak. enchantments. washington. by Tanner Wendell Stewart

foggy colchuck lake. dragontail peak. enchantments. washington. by Tanner Wendell Stewart

Long worthwhile story inbound. Two days ago I went hiking up to this beautiful alpine lake. We shot photos until sunset and hiked out in the dark with headlamps. After 1.5 hours of descending down the steep trail, the trail goes two directions. The main trail curves to the right, crosses a bridge and heads back to the car. The second trail is a horse trail that crosses over a really fast freezing river. The bridge Is the only safe way across the river back to the car. Once you cross the bridge it’s another 1.5 miles to the car. We crossed the bridge. 10 minutes down the trail, out of nowhere we hear someone yell in the darkness from across the river. I answer back but we can’t hear what the person is saying. I decide to investigate further and hike off the trail towards the river. At the river bank I can see a dim phone light across the river 100 yards or so up on a hill. I yell to the voice to climb down to the river. It takes the guy a few minutes to climb down with his dim light. The river is raging so it’s very difficult to hear what he’s saying, finally I see him, it’s a young guy who we had seen hiking earlier. He yells “I’m lost! I need help!” My friend James joined me on the rescue mission. Upriver we find a large fallen tree that is crossing the entire river. James climbs out across the raging river and helps the lost stranger onto the log. He crawls across the log, across to us to safety. It was a bit tense, and I was positioned on a boulder in a place to help him see with my headlamp and to grab him in case he fell into the water. We ask him what happened. He missed the turn to the bridge, followed the horse trail to the dead end, and panicked. He decided to follow the river instead of backtracking. His phone was his only flashlight and it was at 20% battery, so he turned it off to conserve power and tried to walk in the dark. Because of that mistake, he fell into the freezing river, and got soaked up to his torso. After falling he continued down the river hoping to find the bridge. Unfortunately for him, he would have A: Eventually walked off a cliff or into the raging river. Or B: got stranded outside for the entire night when his phone died minutes later. He was soaking wet, surrounded by snow and it was already under freezing outside. It was only 9pm, His chances of being stranded, getting hypothermia and freezing to death were very probable if not certain! We were the last group hiking down the mountain. If we had not decided to investigate the yelling, he would have most likely died of hypothermia. I can’t believe it happened but, we literally saved a strangers life! Being in the wilderness is incredible and beautiful but is not to be underestimated. I thought after this long story I could leave some top tips that could save your life! Tip 1. If you lose the trail. Stop. Backtrack. Don’t assume you’ll run into the trail. Tip 2. Bring headlamps and extra batteries. Tip 3. Tell someone where you’ll be. Tip 4. Over prepare with food, clothes, water, lighter, pocket knife, rope. Tip 5, Don’t panic, or do anything rash. Calm yourself down and figure out the problem. Tip 6. Pay attention to the trail and remember turns for later. Tip 7. Have a map, or use a GPS app like Gaia!! Download an offline map if you’re unfamiliar with an area. Thanks for reading and just as a last reminder!!! Be safe out there!!!

Tanner Wendell Stewart: Photos