Hiker was still alive after fall

A friend of a San Jose, Calif., man who fell to his death while hiking on Mount Si said the injured man was conscious and breathing when he reached him after a nearly 200-foot fall near the mountain summit.

An autopsy showed that 27-year-old Thomas Dunn died from multiple fractured ribs and lung injuries resulting from an accidental fall.

Dunn was hiking with a longtime friend, Jason Woods, 29, of Lakewood, Pierce County, on Thursday. The pair had ascended the 4,167-foot peak and were descending just below the summit when Dunn apparently lost his footing and fell. He was found nearly 200 feet below the trail, Woods said Sunday.

"We had been planning this hike for three months," said Woods, who described his friend as an "adventurous guy," who was physically fit and an avid and experienced hiker.

Woods has climbed the popular, four-mile Mount Si trail dozens of times over the years, he said. Both men were prepared for the hike, bringing with them food, water and cellphones.

The pair had reached and climbed the "Haystack," a short scramble up a ridge to the summit at the end of the trail, Woods said. The weather was misty and windy, and they sat on the summit for a while to see if it would clear "so we could enjoy the view we had come for."

The weather didn't cooperate, however, and the men started down the trail.

"I headed down the scramble in front, and Tom was right behind me," Woods recalled. "It was misty, but it wasn't dangerous."

Woods went around a blind corner and waited; when Dunn didn't appear, he went back to find the trail empty.

"I looked back and he was gone," Woods said. "Hadn't heard anything. He didn't say anything. He didn't yell. I didn't even hear any rocks fall."

When Woods located his friend 200 feet below the Haystack, he was "breathing well at first. He couldn't talk, but he could squeeze my hand and move his legs."

Woods used a cellphone to contact authorities. Meantime, Dunn's condition worsened and he lost consciousness.

King County Search and Rescue officials had to hike to the site because a helicopter could not navigate the fog and winds on the top of the mountain.

Woods described his friend as a "good Christian man" whom he had met years ago at church. Dunn, who was single, was involved in a "Christian-based fraternity" and worked with youth, Woods said. He was employed in San Jose as a project manager on large construction projects.

He was in Washington on vacation, Woods said.

"He was a very giving man," Woods said, noting that Dunn's charity extended beyond his death. "He was an organ donor."

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com