'I'm Stuck Here': Teacher Recounts 4 Days Stranded In Cascades Wilderness

NORTH BEND, WA - What was supposed to be an enjoyable day-hike turned into a three-day nightmare for Edmonds teacher Kim Haines. After falling 100 feet off a cliff, Haines, 40, spent four days stranded and injured, with only her dog, Rainey, at her side. About a week after she was rescued, Haines is sharing her story of survival.

"I don't remember slamming into anything I just stopped and screamed, 'No,' out loud," she told KING 5. "And then mentally I'm thinking, 'This is how I'm going to die?'"

Haines had set out to hike Mount Teneriffe on July 30 and about 12 miles in, took a wrong step and found herself tumbling down a steep cliffside, she told KING 5. She lost her cell phone during the fall, but Rainey was able to come to her side.

Haines at first thought search crews would find her quickly by Sunday night. But she ended up spending all four days by the side of a creek. Local search-and-rescue volunteers were searching for her the whole time, some spending the night in the woods in case Haines turned up.

Eventually, the search team was able to use cell phone data to find Haines. However, a helicopter flew over her location and didn't see her at least once during the ordeal, she told KING 5.

Haines knew she was safe when she heard Rainey bark and spotted the helmets of two search volunteers in the forest.

"I'm overwhelmed by the organization. Three counties of search teams, around the clock. It's humbling. It's incredible they volunteer to do this," she told KING 5.

Image via King County Sheriff's Office