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Two hikers were killed when a tree fell on a popular trail in Washington state’s Olympic National Forest last week, according to a local report.
Christine Mutchler, 70, Kathy Pickard, 76, and Kathy Todd, 74, were hiking to Lena Lake on Thursday when part of a dead fir tree broke and fell onto the trail, Todd told the Kitsap Sun.
“We heard a big crack that I’ll never forget,” Todd told the newspaper on Monday. “I ran as fast as I could, and I’m sure they did too.”
Todd said that when she turned around, both Mutchler and Pickard lay unconscious on the trail surrounded by pieces of the tree that had broken off about ten feet up.
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Spruce Trail in the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park in Washington State on Thursday, June 23, 2022. (Thomas O’Neill/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Two emergency room doctors happened to come up the trail behind the women and attended to Mutchler, who was still breathing, according to Todd. Pickard had been killed instantly.
Todd, who was not injured, said she hiked to a nearby clearing and called 911 for help.
An aerial view of Lake Crescent and surrounding pine trees in Olympic National Park. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, File)
A rescue helicopter from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island arrived just over an hour later and hoisted Mutchler up in a basket. She was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, but died minutes before arriving, her sister, Paula Smith, told the newspaper.
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Meanwhile, the ER doctors walked Todd to the parking lot and drove her back to Kitsap County. Other hikers on the trail waited with Pickard’s body until a rescue crew could hike up the trail, the paper reported.
An aerial view of snow-capped mountains and river leading to Olympic National Park in Washington State. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, File)
Friends of the women told the paper that they were part of a group of friends who enjoyed the outdoors together, including hiking and taking trips on a bus to go skiing.
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“They were the back-of-the-bus crowd,” Sarah Rogers told the paper. “Absolutely a light. Happy, active, energetic and fun. Always out for a good time, in the best way.”