Captain Nick Anthony says he never expected an early September morning mountain climb to turn into a rescue mission.
They started climbing at 4:30 a.m in the North Cascades National Park. Anthony and a team took the trail up to the glacier where they found themselves in the white-out.
During the almost 12-hour hike back down the mountain, they came across Norman Petty and his wife Barbara. It turned out they needed help; 77-year-old Norman had Parkinson’s Disease and had forgotten to take his medicine that morning.
Anthony got creative to help Petty off the mountain. He and his team wrapped their hiking poles with various clothes to create padding and developed a makeshift support system to carry Petty down 2,000 feet, where he could receive medical attention.
Petty has recovered and he told the Seattle Marine Corps Recruiting Station that this was a life-changing event and they were fortunate to meet Anthony and his team.
