PORT ANGELES, Wash. – On the evening of Aug. 30, 2022, Olympic National Park received notice through an inReach device of a visitor fatality that occurred at Elk Lake, a remote wilderness campsite along the Hoh River Trail.
It was reported that a tree fell on a tent while it was occupied by a 34-year-old Canadian citizen named Thomas Bernier-Villeneuve.
The National Park Service reached the scene by helicopter on the morning of Aug. 31. The deceased was transferred to the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office.
Also, it was reported Thursday that a Search and Rescue team from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island rescued a 68-year-old male hiker suffering from a medical condition in the Olympic National Park last night.
The crew was called at just before 6 p.m. Wednesday evening to rescue the hiker several miles up the Enchanted Valley Trail. Working in coordination with National Park Rangers, they found the patient and a Park Ranger in the valley as soon as they arrived at about 6:50 p.m.
Within 10 minutes the SAR crew had the patient onboard and delivered him to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles by 7:20 p.m.
(Photo courtesy of Washington Trails Association)