A Kelso man spent the night in the wilderness near Mount St. Helens after injuring his leg while hiking Sunday evening.
A Coast Guard helicopter lifted Angus Kunz off a hillside above Castle Lake around 9 a.m. Monday and flew him to PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview, according to Cowlitz County Chief Deputy Charlie Rosenzweig.
His hiking partner Jason Cook, of Toutle, called 911 around 9:45 p.m. Sunday to report that Kunz had injured his leg and could not hike out of the rugged terrain. The county’s search and rescue team was sent to the area, which is about 7 miles southwest of the mountain, and found the pair around 3 a.m. Monday.
“He was too injured to walk out on his own, and the terrain was too steep to carry him,” Rosenzweig said.
The crew decided to wait until daylight to get Kunz off the mountain. Besides his leg injury, Kunz was exhausted and dehydrated, Rosenzweig said.
