KILLER TRAIL

Hiker, 66, Dies After Terrifying Mountain Trail Plunge

Two hikers fell to their deaths from the same mountain trail in just two days.

A man has died after falling up to 1,000 feet from a mountain trail in Washington State. Authorities have identified the dead hiker as Gary Idleburg, a 66-year-old resident of Olympia. The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that emergency responders were forced to use a helicopter to retrieve his body on Saturday due to the challenge of navigating the rocky terrain where he fell. Idleburg’s death came after another hiker, Peter Kalapaca, 78, died on the same trail only the day before. The local sheriff’s office said emergency services also had to use a helicopter to respond to that incident, again because of the terrain. Idleburg’s family has not yet released a statement on his death. Kalapaca’s son, Andy, paid tribute to his father in a comment beneath a police Facebook post about the hiker’s death. “Not the outcome we hoped, but Dad is home now,” he wrote. “We are fortunate that he didn’t suffer and that his last steps were doing something he very much enjoyed rather than a hospice bed.”