Deschutes SAR rescues injured hiker near Elk Lake

An injured hiker on the Pacific Crest Trail was rescued Sunday near Elk Lake by Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteers, officials said.

Just after 12:30 p.m., the sheriff’s office was dispatched to a report of an injured hiker who could not continue on from the trail northwest of Elk Lake Lodge, said Deputy Jim Whitcomb, assistant SAR coordinator.

Susan Pease, 64, of San Diego, called to advise she was hiking south on the trail with friends and was about two miles from the Elk Lake Trailhead west of Bend and could not go any further, Whitcomb said.

Eleven Search and Rescue volunteers in three teams responded to the trailhead.

Team 1, with two members, left the trailhead shortly after 2 p.m., making contact with Pease around 3 p.m., about a mile north of the junction between the PCT and the Horse Lake Trail, Whitcomb said.

Teams 2 and 3 left the trailhead about a half-hour later, bringing the wheeled litter with them, arriving around 3:35 p.m.

Pease was taken by wheeled litter to the Elk Lake Trailhead, arriving about 5:10 p.m. Whitcomb said Peace sought medical attention on her own.