‘The longer you wait, they’re in the elements’: Daughter of rescued hiker urged others to stay safe

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — Dramatic new video shows a team of volunteers carving their own trail to rescue a hiker stuck in Snohomish County last weekend.

That hiker’s daughter is now speaking out about the scary ordeal, and urging other hikers to have a plan in case they get stuck.

“I didn’t know if they were gonna find him and what state he was gonna be in,” said his daughter, Alicia.

Alicia said her father, Chris, started his hike to Bear Lake on a Friday morning. She said he’s done the same hike every year for the past three decades.

“That night, I was starting to get sketched out by 8, 9 o’clock,” she said. “He should be home.”

She called 911. Sheriff’s officials confirmed they had search teams starting to search for her father that night.

Alicia said she ultimately learned that heavy rain had caused the lake to overflow, washing out the trail.

While her father searched for higher ground, she said he slipped and fell several times before settling down near a creek. His neighbor, hiking with him, went to search for help.

“He’s laying there by himself just wondering, ‘Am I going to be found? What’s next?’” she said.

While crews started their search Friday, it wasn’t until early Sunday that Chris was freed. A leader with Snohomish County Search and Rescue called it one of the most complex missions the team has seen in years.

Crews spent hours rigging lines and cutting ropes. They also deployed the SNOHAWK10 helicopter, but the mission was unsuccessful due to bad weather.

Alicia said she’s forever grateful that the volunteers brought her dad home safe.

“Which to me is such a relief,” she said. “Not only that I get to keep my dad, but that we’re not having to pay thousands of dollars.”

She and her husband are looking for ways to pay it forward through volunteering with the team themselves.

“They were able to keep him in such high spirits and they’re superheroes in my opinion,” she said.

Alicia is urging others to avoid waiting to call for help if they’re unsure if their loved one is safe.

“The longer you wait, they’re in the elements,” she said.

She is also urging people out on trails to tell someone where they’re going and what they’re wearing, and to carry a GPS beacon.

Though it may sound like overkill, she even recommends you take a photo of the bottom of your shoes. That can help rescuers identify footprints if they need to search for you.

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