‘F-, I broke my ankle!' California hiker air-rescued off popular mountain trail
Robin Paschall knew it was bad the moment she slipped on the trail.
While backpacking with her partner and dog in the mountains west of Redding, Paschall lifted her CamelBak tube for a sip of water and then lost her footing on a gravelly slope. Her left foot became wedged between a rock and the ground as her body lurched forward.
"It got caught on a rock and the rest of me kept going," she told the Chronicle on Thursday. "I heard some sickening pop sounds and saw a bone pushing up under the skin of my leg. I yelled, ‘F-, I broke my ankle!'"
Slipping on the trail is a common misstep that barely registers with most hikers, especially during a long day in the mountains. But for Paschall, it led to severe injuries to her foot and leg, an excruciating wait for rescue, and eventually a helicopter extraction.
The 46-year-old came away from it hurt but grateful - even going so far as to post a public thank-you message to the Trinity County volunteer search and rescue crew that helped her.
"It's crazy unfortunate and also I'm very lucky," she said. "It could have been so much worse."
On Sunday, June 7, Paschall, an avid backpacker from McKinleyville in Humboldt County, was hiking back from an overnight trip in the Trinity Alps Wilderness with her partner, Neil, and their dog.
They'd camped by the Canyon Creek Trail, a popular and beautiful spot that passes through a corridor of high granite peaks, frigid alpine lakes and old-growth forest. It's by far the most trafficked trail in the Trinities and a place where authorities are called to several hiker emergencies each year, according to Trinity County Undersheriff Bryan Ward.
Most of them involve slip-and-falls like the one that befell Paschall.
The accident occurred about five miles up the trail around 1:30 p.m. After sliding on the trail, Paschall yelled out in pain, then looked to see a spike of bone poking up just above her boot line. As she lay on the trail, Neil rushed over and the two wrapped her wounded leg in a sarong and then fashioned a splint out of trekking poles and extra boot laces - quick decisions the Trinity County Sheriff's Office, which coordinated the rescue, later commended.
Paschall took some ibuprofen and then attempted to stand with assistance, thinking she might be able to hobble back to her car. But after a step or two, she started seeing stars. Clearly she wouldn't be able to safely make it to the vehicle parked miles away.
"The pain was so intense, I felt like I was going to pass out," she said. "I've heard of people falling to their deaths out there and I didn't feel comfortable putting other hikers at risk to get me out."
The couple didn't have cell service to call for emergency help. A pair of hikers passing by offered to hustle back to the trailhead and alert the ranger station.
For the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening, Paschall lay uncomfortably on the rocky ground, occasionally sipping water and trying not to stir. A few groups of hikers passed by offering help; one gave her a Vicodin for the pain. Another passerby happened to be an emergency room trauma nurse who took Paschall's vitals, sat with her awhile and reassured her.
Eventually, Paschall saw search and rescue crewmembers in orange shirts coming up the trail. Responders from the U.S. Forest Service also hiked in to help. They triaged her wounded leg and determined that the most effective means of extracting her would be an airlift.
"When I heard them talking about a helicopter, that's when my heart started beating fast - the realization that I'm going to be hoisted up," Paschall said.
Local authorities called the California Highway Patrol, which sent a helicopter in from Redding. It arrived at dusk and hovered over the injured hiker dangling a long hoist line. Rescuers on the ground helped secure Paschall into the sling, and the aircraft hoisted her up and inside. The helicopter crewmembers joked with her, telling her she should take a video of the flight. It'd be the best view of the canyon, they said.
"They had a great sense of humor," Paschall said.
She expressed concern about the cost of her rescue. Ambulance rides, for example, can saddle injured people with thousands of dollars in fees. But county search and rescue groups, CHP and other responders like the U.S. Coast Guard are budgeted to perform emergency rescues. "They told me the helicopter ride is free, which is mind-boggling to me," Paschall said.
She was rushed to an emergency room in Weaverville, where she was treated for a dislocated tibia and told she'd need surgery to repair a broken fibula and tibia - "basically an ankle reconstruction with plates and screws," Paschall said.
She got the surgery a few days later and has been recovering at her McKinleyville home with a large wrap on most of her left leg. She said she feels incredibly grateful to her rescuers and sent them a note of thanks, which Trinity County Search and Rescue published publicly this week.
"I keep telling people that while my injury was extremely traumatic, every single thing that happened afterwards was the best possible experience and way that things could have gone," Paschall wrote. "You each, and all, inspire me, and I am eternally grateful for what you did to save me, and just knowing that humans like you exist in the world."
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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 10:40 AM.