Rescuers help exhausted hiker near Tumalo State Park

A Bend woman hiking with a friend Sunday afternoon on the Deschutes River trail from Tumalo State Park became exhausted and was unsure she could return without help, prompting a call for help and a rescue operation, officials said.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the two hikers around 4:25 p.m., said Deputy Shane Zook, assistant Search and Rescue coordinator.

Two deputies and 18 Sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteers responded to assist the 37-year-old Bend woman.

The deputies helped the woman suffering from exhaustion continue down the trail toward the park. When the SAR volunteers arrived, they evaluated the woman and helped her into a wheeled litter, Zook said.

The woman was carried in the litter back to a waiting vehicle at the park. Zook said she had no life-threatening injuries and planned to seek further medical treatment on her own.