Hiker airlifted from PCT

A hiker who was incapacitated by a potentially life-threatening condition was airlifted last week from Highway 242 near the Pacific Crest Trail.

The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office was dispatched on August 9 at 12:38 p.m. to a report of a hiker who became unresponsive while hiking north on the PCT from the Dee Wright Observatory located on Highway 242 west of Sisters.

Hiker Amy Vandehey, 29, of Portland, reported that Michelle Releford, 49, of Garland, Texas, could not continue on the trail any longer and needed medical assistance as soon as possible. Based on GPS coordinates received, Releford's location was about two miles up the trail from Highway 242. Cell phone reception in this area is very poor, so Vandehey resorted to requesting numerous different hikers in the area to call 911 when they obtained reception.

Two Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Hasty Team members were deployed to the PCT trail just west of Dee Wright and ran up the trail to assess the hiker's condition. Five other SAR members followed after with a wheeled litter.

Upon the Hasty Team's arrival at about 2:45 p.m., it was determined that Releford needed to be transported to a hospital as soon as possible for a potentially life-threatening condition.

Life Flight was dispatched to the location. The closest landing zone was on Highway 242, just a little west of where SAR members were deployed on the trail.

Releford was transported by wheeled litter back to the location where DCSOSAR vehicles had staged. The process was slowed down by the narrowness of the trail through a section of lava. Releford was transported by a DCSOSAR vehicle to Life Flight's location, after which Life Flight departed at 4:31 p.m. to St. Charles Medical Center.