Man falls over 800 feet to his death 1 day after another hiker found dead on same mountain

September 24, 2026 / 9:03 AM EDT / CBS News

A man plummeted at least 800 feet to his death while hiking on Washington state's Sauk Mountain over the weekend, authorities said, just a day after another person was found dead on the same mountain.

Gary Idleburg, 66, of Olympia, may have fallen as much as 1,000 feet after going over the edge of a switchback trail, according to the Skagit County Sheriff's Office. Witnesses who reported Idleburg's fall told the sheriff's office that it happened at around 3:30 p.m. local time on Saturday.

Other hikers on the mountain initially located Idleburg and guided emergency responders to him, the office said. Although responders attempted to save his life once there, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The recovery operation wasn't completed until about 8 p.m. because Idleburg had fallen in a remote spot surrounded by "difficult terrain," according to the sheriff.

Idleburg's death came just one day after another hiker was found dead on the same mountain. Peter Kalapaca, 78, was discovered unresponsive in a steep section of the Sauk Mountain Trail on Friday night, the sheriff's office announced Saturday.

A helicopter flight crew located Kalapaca after he was…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/