One hiker dead on Mount Si, another rescued in separate incident

A hiker died last week on Mount Si, and on Saturday another hiker had to be rescued in the same area after a 50-foot fall.

The twin incidents are a reminder that even popular hiking spots like this one near North Bend can be dangerous.

On May 10, search and rescue teams responded to a 911 call from a hiker saying they had spotted a man on the Mount Si trail laying facedown and bleeding from the head, according to the King County sheriff's office.

"King County Search and Rescue teams came in and confirmed it looked like the man had fallen and hit his head," according to the sheriff's office. "The death showed no signs of anything suspicious, just likely an unfortunate circumstance."

The man was identified as Michael Thomas Mullaney, a 65-year-old licensed medical pharmacist.

Then, on Saturday, search and rescue teams headed out again, this time to rescue a hiker. In that case, the man had fallen about 50 feet on Haystack Rock, at the top of Mount Si, according to a video posted by King County Air Support.

The footage shows the rescue chopper moving in among the mountain above bands of fog. Snow is visible on the trees near the peak, as a rescuer descends from the chopper to meet a team of rescuers who had prepared a litter with the downed hiker.

"We had difficulty getting to him due to wind, snow and clouds at 4100 (feet)," according to the caption of the video posted to YouTube. "Once we had a break in the weather, we successfully rescued him and flew him to Harborview."

On the same day Mullaney's death was reported, a hiker in Snohomish County, Alex Keen, was reported missing near Mount Pugh. He too was ultimately found dead from a fall that required search and rescue crews.

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This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 4:55 PM.