Two hikers home safe after falling into ravine

Two hikers who went missing after falling into a ravine in Skamania County have returned home, safe and uninjured.

Paula Bailes, 38, and Madison Sartain, 22, both of Grandview, left for an overnight hike in the Trapper Creek Wilderness Area north of Carson on Saturday, Skamania County Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Pat Bond said. When the pair did not return Sunday, their mother called 911 at 10:23 p.m.

A search effort began Monday, with crews driving the roads, using snowmobiles and a spotter in a helicopter, but they did not locate the two women. In the evening, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department sent a fixed-wing aircraft, outfitted with an infrared system, to scour the area, but the crew did not locate the missing hikers either, Bond said.

The search resumed Tuesday, with family members, friends, an air unit from the Hood River (Ore.) Sheriff’s Office and two helicopters from the Washington Army National Guard assisting in the effort, Bond said.

By 11 a.m. Tuesday, Bailes and Sartain were found by a family member near Howe Ridge. Search and rescue personnel reached the women, and they both walked out of the wilderness, Bond said.

The women told authorities that the trail they were on gave out and they both tumbled down a deep ravine. They said they had heard the rescue aircraft but were not seen because of the dense tree canopy. Bailes and Sartain were tired, but uninjured.

Bond said the incident illustrates the dangers of hiking unfamiliar areas and the importance of being prepared for the possibility of an emergency.