Everybody on top.
On our way back down we stopped at Peggy's Pond to refill our water bottles. The Pacific Crest Trail comes through here so you'll usually see other people. To our astonishment a National Guard helicopter rolled in, picked up a hiker, and flew off. We gathered the following information from another onlooker. The rescued man had been climbing around on some tallus and fell. His wrist got very swollen and he thought it was broken. He didn't think he could hike out with the broken wrist. The swelling eventually subsided and it became clear his wrist wasn't broken. But there was another complication - his father was very sick in Florida and he needed to get there right away. He tried to charter a helicopter with his cell phone but no charter helicopter was interested in the job. So he called the National Guard. Apparently he knows some people at the Guard because he's a lawyer and does some legal work for them. They agree to pick him up as a training mission. The rescued man asked if he could pay the Guard for this and they said no, they can't accept payment. Then he asked if he could make a charitable contribution to the Guard in general and they said yes.
I sort of feel like I should have an opinion about all this but I don't
know what to make of it all in the first place.
