Hiker falls to death near Pass

Published 3:25 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

Tyler Bentley Hook, an 18-year-old Shoreline resident, died in a

fall from an edge above Keekwulee Falls Saturday, Oct. 2. Efforts by friends

to revive him were unsuccessful.

The falls are located about two miles west of Snoqualmie Pass

and can be viewed from a popular trail below Denny Mountain that

parallels Denny Creek, Keekwulee and Snowshoe Falls before continuing north

to Hemlock Pass. According to witnesses’ accounts gathered by the

King County Sheriff’s Department, Hook apparently left the main trail to get

a better view of the falls. He slipped on the damp ground cover and slid 30

feet before going off the 125-foot ledge, landing in the water below.

Other hikers in his party climbed down to the base of the falls and

attempted to save Hook through CPR, but he apparently died from head

injuries incurred in the fall. A U.S. Army helicopter and corpsmen were

dispatched from Fort Lewis in response to the 911 call – transmitted via

cell phone by another hiker – and later recovered his body.

“Denny Creek, of course, is a very popular hiking area,” said

John Urquhart, King County Sheriff’s Office spokesman. “It was a very

nice day, and there were a lot of people out there.

“We got a cell call at about 12:26 in the afternoon from someone

else who was hiking up there. I don’t know if it was from someone in his party,

or another hiker.”

Urquhart said other hikers did CPR on Hook for about an hour and

a half, until the paramedics could winch down to the site from the Army

helicopter.

“The paramedics worked on him for another half-hour,” he

added. “They then consulted with a doctor at Madigan Army Hospital, and

stopped resuscitation efforts.”

Officials have ruled the death as accidental.