Injured hiker on Green Lakes Trail prompts rescue

A Terrebonne woman injured in a fall off a log bridge on the Green Lakes Trail west of Bend called for help Tuesday evening, prompting a Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue effort that took much of the night to complete.

Deschutes County 911 dispatchers received a call shortly before 7 p.m. from Suzanne Smither, 67, saying she fell a short distance off of a log bridge, had been injured and was no longer ambulatory, deputies said.

Smither said she had been hiking in the area with her husband and had food, water and a tarp for warmth. But she told dispatchers she would need help returning to her car, parked at the Green Lakes Trailhead, about 2 1/2 miles away.

A dozen Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office SAR volunteers were activated and responded to her location, with the first ones making contact just before 9 p.m.

The volunteers stabilized Smither and brought her back to the trailhead by wheeled litter, arriving there around 11 p.m.

Smither declined any further medical help and was released ot her husband’s care for any further assistance on their own.