What does a day hike mean to you? A couple miles? Five? Ten? Twenty? A strong hiker can cover 20+ miles in a day, which means our search and rescue members need to be able to cover that kind of distance too, and be able to assist someone in need at the end. To ensure we can put that kind of resource into the field, our searchers participate in an endurance test: up and over Green Mountain twice, trailhead to trailhead and back again. It’s almost 15 miles and 3000 ft total elevation gain, while carrying a full 30-40 lb pack.
Congratulations to the newest set of searchers to prove they are up to the most challenging and mentally exhausting search assignments we can throw at them! They finished the test in 6 hours flat and could have gone further if needed. Coming soon to a search near you!
Washington Explorer Search and Rescue - Kitsap Unit 