Forum Index > Trail Talk > "Hiker falls to death near the peak of Bridal Veil Falls" 12/28/2020
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Bob2005
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PostTue Dec 29, 2020 6:42 pm 
Before the current trail was built years ago, after the old trail became abandoned, I recall going up the old trail (or close) grabbing onto tree roots, etc. But not real dangerous. The article states he fell: "nearing the top of the Bridal Veil Falls Trail". And it has a link to a KOMO story staying: "he apparently fell from a peak along the route". I don't recall the current trail being that dangerous. I suspect he wasn't on the trail proper. I could remember the trail wrong. I'm sure others will clear things up here. Very sad, in any case. https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/state/washington/article248160805.html

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RumiDude
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PostTue Dec 29, 2020 7:15 pm 
Bob2005 wrote:
I suspect he wasn't on the trail proper.
That would be my guess as well. but he could have had a coronary event and fell several feet. To onlookers it may have simply appeared as if he fell. Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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Malachai Constant
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PostTue Dec 29, 2020 7:28 pm 
For awhile the remnant of the old trail was called the Bridal Veil Falls when the new trail was built as it came close to the falls above the cabin. All gone now. The Lake Serene trail crosses the bottom of the falls but has no “peak” except the lake. confused.gif

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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camut
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PostTue Dec 29, 2020 7:45 pm 
I only hiked the old Lake Serene trail once, probably somewhere around 1969-70. It was a typical rough straight up fisherman's/climber's trail that gained something like 1300' in one mile. I don't know if it was the same incident, but I recall a TV photographer falling to his death above Bridal Veil Falls around that time. Because of that incident, the Mountaineers removed the description of the hike from their "Hikes" guidebooks at the request of the Forest Service until the new trail could be constructed. There was also a law suit against the Mountaineers and the Forest as a result of the death.

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Schroder
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PostTue Dec 29, 2020 10:26 pm 
The newsman was covering our SAR team on a carry-out we were making of an injured hiker when he decided to go to the side and get a look down the falls when he fell. I think late 70's. There was a later incident, as I recall about 1987, when two young women were trying to find the grown-over trail and wandered up the avalanche slope just to the north. There are sections of brush-covered rock and they both fell and were seriously injured, one dying from her injuries a few months later. It was because of that incident and numerous close-calls that the Mountaineers were asked by Everett Mountain Rescue to remove the trail description from future editions of the guidebook. I went on 9 SAR missions in one weekend in the mid-80's and at least 4 of them were near that trail. There is a well-established trail now from the lake to an overlook at the top of the upper falls where the old trail started down. This might be the spot described in the article.

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Malachai Constant
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PostTue Dec 29, 2020 10:35 pm 
Went there quite a few times in the 70’s-80’s trail was steep but after a few times you got the root ladders wired. It was about as hard as climbing Index on the dog route.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Triton
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PostWed Dec 30, 2020 12:10 pm 
Snohomish County Sheriff's Office GOLD BAR, Wash. – On Monday afternoon, Search and Rescue recovered the body of a 49-year-old Mountlake Terrace man who died while hiking near Bridal Trail Falls. Around 2 p.m., the victim was hiking with a family member when he fell. Other hikers nearby began performing CPR while search and rescue teams responded to the area. The victim was on the Lake Serene Trail approximately 1.5 miles from the Bridal Veil Falls Trail. Fire and aid ground teams arrived first on scene and took over lifesaving efforts but were unable to revive the victim. At this time, it is unknown if the death is related to a medical incident. The victim’s body was transported by SnoHawk10 to Taylor’s Landing where the Snohomish County Medical Examiner took custody of him. The Medical Examiner will provide positive identification of the decedent, as well as determine the cause and manner of death.

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nordique
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PostWed Dec 30, 2020 2:23 pm 
I remember hiking that trail a number of times, years or decades ago, and that old steep muddy trail seemed pretty dangerous to me. I only went up it since descending it seemed even more dangerous. Going up, I seemed to be right on the edge of the falls and creek. One slip on that slick steep mud and you'd be off, into the air and into the creek, hell-bent for the falls. I used it so as to avoid the mobs on the main trail.

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Schroder
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PostWed Dec 30, 2020 3:07 pm 
Triton wrote:
The victim was on the Lake Serene Trail approximately 1.5 miles from the Bridal Veil Falls Trail.
From that description it sounds like he was on the main trail and almost to the lake basin. It's 1.7 miles from the Bridal Veil Falls trail cutoff to the lake. There is one small creek coming off Philadelphia that could be treacherous when it's icy.

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Bowregard
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PostWed Dec 30, 2020 3:35 pm 
RIP hiker Back in the early 80s a friend of mine took me up the old trail. I remember root ladders on the way up and sketchy friction holds on the way down (not sure how to rationalize that but I guess I remember what scared me). At the top I was shocked to see so may people including one older guy with a canoe. I was baffled as to how he could possibly have carried it up that trail. We packed one-man rafts and rowed across the lake to a snowbank below one of the peaks. I actually was able to execute the old joke by slipping a couple beers into my friend's pack. At the snowbank I said "a cold beer sure would taste good now". Still can't believe he replied with "what idiot would pack beer all the way up here" to give me a chance to say "you" and pull them out of his pack to cool on the snowbank. Those jokes never seem to work out for me but that one time it did. There was a great view of a waterfall in the valley below on our way back but it was getting late and the moist rocks on the way down were enough to keep me away from using that trail ever again. A few years ago I took may daughter up the the lake on a spring day and I could not believe how much longer and how many steps the new trail had. I can't imagine what that area would be like on a weekend.

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Randito
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PostWed Dec 30, 2020 6:28 pm 
I hiked the trail last year. It is an excellent trail, but a very different experience than the root ladder back in the misty past. Anyway, the trail traverses some steep and rocky slopes and especially with snow and ice on the trail, I can easily see how someone could suffer a fatal injury from a simple slip on that trail. But my perspective is jaded by the fact that a former manager of mine died as a result of a traumatic brain injury from losing his balance while in the London Tube and striking his temple on the sharp corner of a marble bench on the platform. Life is a narrow bridge that can be shockingly easy to step off.

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zephyr
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PostWed Dec 30, 2020 8:15 pm 
Randito wrote:
Life is a narrow bridge that can be shockingly easy to step off.
Well said. All of it. ~z

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Randito
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PostWed Dec 30, 2020 8:59 pm 
zephyr wrote:
Randito wrote:
Life is a narrow bridge that can be shockingly easy to step off.
Well said. All of it. ~z . .
Thanks, but not exactly my invention https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kol_Ha%27Olam_Kulo

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kevperro
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PostThu Dec 31, 2020 11:36 am 
We do this hike almost every weekend, waking up early to miss the crowds. There are plenty of places to fall but it is the intersection of the numbers of inexperienced people along with the possible trail conditions this time of year that doesn't make it a surprise. I cannot tell you how many people I've seen up there ill-prepared for conditions. Someone fell through the ice on the lake last year and had to be airlifted out. I've taken a pretty good spill at the bottom of those falls. The mist freezes on the rocks so the trail on both sides of it can be secure and good but as you approach the falls everything covered in a fine layer of ice. At 1.5 miles up though that would be near the lake. There is the small creek crossing which is sometimes hazardous. Last weekend it was partially covered in snow and pretty secure with spikes. More people than not don't have proper gear nor experience to be up there in winter.

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