Snohomish Co. crews making more rescues on difficult hike highlighted on social media

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said it’s been responding to calls for help — all summer — from a specific hiking trail in the Cascade Mountains.

The county’s Search and Rescue team said social media posts are making theVesper Peak Trail more popular, but it’s not for beginning hikers, and many are running into trouble.

Sgt. Greg Sanders with Search and Rescue noted they received 65-70 calls for Vesper Peak between May and September of 2025, and between May and August this year.

“Just this week, one of my partners had four calls up there in one night,” Sanders said in an email to KIRO 7.

Sanders said many of the people needing rescue are older teens and young adults.

“For some reason, they believe they can just hit the trail and hike up and get home in a few hours when really Vesper Peak is eight miles roundtrip and an elevation gain of 4,000 feet in four miles,” he wrote.

“Vesper Peak is probably one of the hardest hikes in Washington, mile per mile,” said Lee Jacobson, who has hiked in the Pacific Northwest for more than 30 years and is an administrator for the Facebook page Washington Hikers and Climbers.

In addition to the trail’s distance and elevation, there is rough terrain for hikers to navigate.

“It’s not a smooth trail. There are a lot of obstacles, stream crossings, and rockslides,” he told KIRO 7. “Granite slabs that you have to scramble up. It’s a tough hike.”

In 2020, a 29-year-old man died after being injured on the trail. In 2018, a 27-year-old woman failed to return from a hike and hasn’t been seen since.

Jacobson agreed that social media is likely luring inexperienced hikers to the trail.

“The Instagram pictures and TikTok pictures, where I think most people are getting their information these days — especially new hikers — it can be a bit of a siren song. You see somebody else do it and you want to do it yourself,” Jacobson said.

He said the trail is also a challenge for the more experienced.

“It is easy to get lost on the trail,” Jacobson said. “The first time we tried, we got lost temporarily hiking up the wrong gully, so it happens.”

He said all hikers should be prepared with water and proper gear. Don’t expect cell service on the remote trail. Consider carrying a portable locator beacon or satellite-capable phone.

Jacobson said the Washington Trails Association website offers details on how to properly prepare for a hike, as well as information on the difficulty of different trails.

“The best thing to do is to read the trip reports. There are hundreds of them on Washington Trails Association,” Jacobson said. “You’ll learn an incredible amount by reading the trip reports for any hike in Washington that you can think of.”