5th Mount Pilchuck Rescue: Woman Falls In Snow, Cuts Leg

GRANITE FALLS, WA - Last week, the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office issued this warning to local hikers:

"[C]onditions on Mt. Pilchuck right now are not conducive to an easy day hike or to those who aren’t well-trained and well-equipped."

The department felt compelled to issue that warning after it conducted four rescues on the popular Pilchuck within seven days. But on Monday, the department's search-and-rescue team enacted its fifth rescue on Pilchuck since June 8.

On Monday, an 18-year-old woman from Sedro Woolley fell through the snow about two miles up the trail, which is above the snow line, a major danger zone. She cut her leg, and had to be carried down the mountain. Neither she nor the man she was hiking with were carrying items that would've helped them survive overnight, the sheriff's office said.

Here are the other rescues this month:

June 8: A woman fell while glissading and broke her ankle. She was at an elevation of about 4,800 feet and had to be plucked from the mountain by the sheriff's search-and-rescue helicopter.

June 11: A 19-year-old man fell and dislocated his shoulder. He was unable to move, and the rescue helicopter had to come and get him.

June 11: As rescue crews were responding to the man with the dislocated shoulder, rescue personnel got a call about a lost 27-year-old man. Rescue crews on the ground and in the air were unable to locate him, but he later found his way back to the trailhead.

June 12: A 20-year-old woman was separated from her hiking partner in a snow slope about 400 yards from the main trail. Ground rescue teams reached the woman and brought her to the trailhead at around midnight. She suffered mild hypothermia.

Image via State of Washington