Four hikers found dead in Washington’s backcountry in one week
Julius Ayo
September 22, 2026
The Picket Range seen from Sauk Mountain. (Photo: Peter Stevens, CC BY 2.0)
Four hikers have been found dead across Washington’s backcountry within a matter of days, including two deaths on the same steep mountain trail in Skagit County.
The latest involved 66-year-old Gary Idleburg of Olympia, who died Saturday after falling hundreds of feet from the Sauk Mountain Trail near Concrete. Witnesses called 911 around 3:30 p.m. after seeing a man fall from one of the trail’s switchbacks, according to the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office. Hikers located Idleburg and helped direct emergency crews to him, but lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful. Authorities said he fell an estimated 800 to 1,000 feet.
His death came only a day after crews recovered another hiker from the same mountain.
Peter Kalapaca, 78, of Edmonds, had been hiking the Sauk Mountain Trail with family Thursday when he became separated from the group. Search and rescue teams spent Thursday evening and much of Friday searching by ground and air before a helicopter crew spotted him in steep terrain that could not be reached by ground teams. He was found dead and his body was recovered by helicopter.
Peter Kalapaca, 78. (Photo: Skagit County Sheriff’s Office)
The Sauk Mountain Trail reopened Saturday following Kalapaca’s recovery. Later that same day, Idleburg fell to his death.
The two incidents add to a history of fatal accidents along the steep trail. The roughly four-mile round-trip hike gains about 1,200 feet over two miles, and previous fatal falls were reported there in 2017, 2018 and 2025.
But the deaths on Sauk Mountain are only part of a difficult week in Washington’s backcountry.
Days earlier, 45-year-old Sybil Claborn of Oklahoma City was hiking through the Enchantments with her husband when an early-season storm swept through the high-elevation area on Sept. 13. The couple became stranded around 7,000 feet as heavy snow accumulated and their clothing became soaked.
Her husband contacted emergency services after Claborn became unable to continue. Severe weather prevented an Army helicopter from reaching them, forcing rescuers to approach on foot. By the time rescuers reached the couple early the following morning, Claborn had died. Her husband, who was suffering from severe hypothermia, was rescued and hospitalized.
At roughly the same time, a nearly two-week search for another missing hiker was coming to an end in Olympic National Park.
Neil Gehring, 26, had left the Madison Falls Trailhead on Aug. 31 for what was supposed to be an overnight solo backcountry trip. His permit indicated that he planned to travel cross-country from Boulder Lake to Appleton Pass before returning Sept. 1. When he failed to return, he was reported overdue the following morning.
Neil Gehring, 26. (Photo: National Park Service)
Search crews spent days looking for Gehring from the ground and air, using drones and dog teams. Additional cellphone location data eventually helped searchers narrow the area. His body was recovered from the northwest slope of Mount Appleton on Sept. 13 and transferred to the Clallam County Coroner’s Office. The National Park Service has not publicly provided further details about the circumstances of his death.
The four deaths happened in different locations and under different circumstances. One involved a witnessed fall, another followed a hiker becoming separated from his family, another occurred during a severe snowstorm, and the circumstances surrounding Gehring’s death have not been publicly detailed.
Their concentration within a single week therefore does not, on its own, establish that hiking fatalities are increasing across Washington. But the incidents highlight how quickly conditions can become dangerous in the state’s backcountry, where exposed terrain, rapidly changing mountain weather and remote locations can complicate both emergencies and rescue efforts.
For Sauk Mountain in particular, the deaths of Kalapaca and Idleburg occurred within roughly 24 hours of each other on a trail that has now seen multiple fatalities in recent years.
