Mount Rainier officials have released the identities of the husband and wife who drowned Monday morning while hiking out of the park's northwest corner. Francis Blakely and her husband, Robert Blakely, drowned in Ipsut Creek in the Carbon River section of the park.
The couple, from Puyallup, Washington, had camped Saturday night at the Ipsut Creek Campground with a friend, Debra Adams, and had planned to hike out Sunday but didn't because the creek was running too high. When they tried Monday morning, Francis Blakely slipped off a log into the creek. Her husband then removed his backpack and jumped into the creek to try to save her.
While rescuers recovered his body Monday afternoon about 200 feet downstream, Mrs. Blakely's body was trapped under a log jam and crews couldn't recover it until Tuesday, when they had to resort to chainsaws to break up the jam.
Rainier Drowning Victims Identified
By Kurt Repanshek - March 21st, 2007
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