Two teenage girls found themselves in more hazardous terrain than they were prepared for Wednesday, according to a dispatch from the Alaska Department of Public Safety, and Juneau Mountain Rescue personnel had to help them get down.
Neither hiker was harmed, the dispatch states, and were able to get home safely before nightfall.
At about 4:06 p.m. Wednesday, the Juneau Police Department notified the Alaska State Troopers that there were two lost hikers on Mount Juneau near the Flume Trail, according to the dispatch.
The hikers, who were identified as two girls, 16 and 17, of Juneau, told JPD they were close enough to town that they could see the Federal Building but the steep and rocky terrain was too difficult for them to find their way down, the dispatch states.
Troopers were able to reach the hikers by phone and even got close enough to see them, according to the dispatch, and contacted JMR.
Jackie Ebert, operations section chief and training coordinator for JMR, said Friday that the rescue was fairly standard. JMR personnel had the two girls down at around 7:30 p.m., the dispatch states, and their parents were contacted.
Ebert said the two hikers appear to have been on the Flume Trail (parts of which are closed off) and then decided to explore a little further. They scrambled above the trail and found themselves in rocky terrain, Ebert said, without proper equipment, clothing or food.
Two groups of JMR climbers went up, Ebert said, with one group looking to evaluate the area and one group bringing clothes and food. Ebert said the girls were not in any imminent danger, but were simply unprepared for their endeavor.
“Be prepared and be careful what you decide to do,” Ebert said. “If you’re going to go on an adventure, make sure you’re ready for it.”
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
