Bystanders perform life-saving CPR on 80-year-old hiker found on trail

A cardiac incident that occurred in Rocky Mountain National Park on July 15 put an 80-year-old woman at serious risk.

The 80-year-old hiker was found unresponsive on Lawn Lake Trail by others traveling the route. She was about five miles from the trailhead when she was found.

A satellite communication device was used to call for help, with hikers at the scene providing life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) efforts.

Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue members then arrived at the scene to provide additional medical care. The woman was ultimately extricated via a hoist operation that involved a Colorado Army National Guard helicopter. She was transferred to a Med Evac air ambulance from the Upper Beaver Meadows are for further care.

Additional details have not been publicly released regarding the current status of the woman. That said, a witness of the incident who contacted the OutThere Colorado team reports they've been in contact with the woman's hiking partner and that the woman is alive and stable, doing well all things considered.

Lawn Lake Trail is a 12.5-mile round-trip out-and-back trail with 2,513 feet of elevation gain, according to All Trails. It's rated as 'hard' with reviewers noting that some of the most difficult stretches are found near the beginning of the route. Several hikers have described it as an "uphill grind," with only a few flat stretches – in other words, quite strenuous with essentially all of the elevation gain taking place during the first half of the hike. It's also worth noting that the hike travels to roughly 11,000 feet of elevation.

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