Overview
- Officials identified the victims as Christine Mutchler, 70, and Kathy Pickard, 76, who were hiking with a friend on Jan. 15 in Olympic National Forest.
- Reports indicate a portion of a dead fir broke near the trail around midday, striking the pair on a popular route to Lena Lake.
- Pickard was pronounced dead at the scene, and Mutchler was hoisted by a Naval Air Station Whidbey Island helicopter but died before reaching Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
- The surviving hiker, 74-year-old Kathy Todd, said she heard a loud crack, found her friends unresponsive, called 911, and received help from two emergency room doctors who were also on the trail.
- The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the response timeline and said the precise reason the tree failed has not been determined, as friends remembered the women as energetic and devoted to outdoor adventures.