What not to do when hiking

Melakwa Lake Rescue of a hiker who scrambled off trail and too high without protection. At least he had the wits to stay put and call 911. Kudos to the Rescue Team for a job well done. On the evening of 6/30/14 we received an assistance request from the King County Sheriff for a hiker who had become cliffed out above Melakwa Lake near Snoqualmie Pass. The hiker was notified that ground teams from Seattle Mountain Rescue and King Co. Explorer Search and Rescue were en route but that it would be several hours before they reached his position. The hiker was concerned that he would not be able to hold onto the ledge until then. Our crew spotted the stranded hiker at the 5000' level on the west side of Chair Peak in vertical terrain and discussed how to best access his position. We landed at the upper Alpental ski area parking lot to offload gear/personnel and then flew back to the hiker's location to attempt a hoist rescue. The team was able to successfully use the Strop extraction technique to bring the hiker to safety around 8:30pm.