10-31-2018

GLACIER PEAK, Wash. (AP) — A phone call from a concerned woman likely saved the life of a hiker from Germany who was attempting to travel through the Cascade Mountains to the Canadian border without proper gear as snow and cold hit the region.

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office says Nancy Abel of Sultan met and hiked with the German Katharina Groene earlier this month near Stevens Pass.

Groene told Abel she had started her solo trek along the Pacific Crest Trail at the Mexican border in May and was determined to complete it.

Abel returned home and later called 911.

The Daily Herald reports that Groene was found in distress near Glacier Peak and taken back to Snohomish by helicopter.