German Hiker Killed By Tree On Pacific Crest Trail

TROUT LAKE, WA — A German man died after a tree fell on him while he was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in southwest Washington this week, according to the Skamania County Sheriff's Office.

Finn Bastian, 28, was crossing a wooden bridge along the trail at around 4 p.m. Tuesday when a tree fell on him. Two women who were hiking with him called 911, and search-and-rescue crews responded.

After pulling Bastian out from under the tree, medics transported him to a trailhead and began performing CPR. They were not able to revive him. The tree that killed Bastian had rotted at the base, the sheriff's office reported.

The two other hikers were Larissa Stawicki, 27, of Lunburg, Germany and Melanie Teek, 38. The group had hiked from the beginning of the Pacific Crest Trail near Mexico, the sheriff's office said. The 2,653-mile trail runs up and down the West Coast from the Canadian border to Southern California.

Skamania County deputies rescued a second man along the Pacific Crest Trail also on Tuesday. The hiker, Shane Brown, 41, of Crescent City, Calif., was rescued after falling ill with a stomach virus.