A 72-year-old hiker survived six nights stranded near the Pacific Crest Trail after a 100-foot fall. Here is how she survived and what rescuers learned.
Cabin Creek Trail is located in northern California’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest (Photo: Zachary Martgan/500px via Getty Images)
Published October 7, 2026 01:40PM
What to Know. After 72-year-old Mary Beth Granbery fell 100 feet down a steep embankment off Northern California’s Cabin Creek Trail, she spent six harrowing nights stranded in the wilderness while enduring nighttime temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
On September 28, a 72-year-old California woman fell 100 feet from the Cabin Creek Trail, a remote but popular hiking route that connects to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) near Mount Shasta, California. The hiker, identified as Mary Beth Granbery, spent the next six nights stranded and injured in the wilderness, surviving overnight temperatures that dipped below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Search-and-rescue responders found her on October 4 at the bottom of a steep embankment, according to the Siskiyou and Shasta County Sheriff’s Offices.
“She was very cold, hypothermic. She was dehydrated. She had injuries consistent with a fall,” Tom Campbell, Shasta County head of the Office of Emergency Services, told Outside. “My hat’s off to her; she had a will to live.”
As of the publishing date of this story, Campbell said that Granbery was in stable condition at a local hospital.
Cabin Creek Trail is located in northern California’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the trail sits at an elevation of 3,000 feet and is a quarter-mile walk to the PCT. The trail climbs 1,700 feet to Girard Ridge, and then descends into the Sacramento River Canyon. About a 30-minute drive south of the town of Mount Shasta, where Granbery lives, the trail requires little technical expertise.
“It’s a fairly easy hike, but as soon as you are off trail, it can be treacherous,” Campbell said, adding that the slope that Granbery tumbled down has dense tree cover.
According to the Siskiyou Sheriff’s Office, Granbery left for a multi-day camping trip September 28 with a camper, and was supposed to return home to Mount Shasta within four days. When she didn’t, friends and family grew concerned. Rescuers located her camper van at the trailhead on October 3, and rescue operations began.
Officials were initially uncertain how long the woman had been stranded.
“We had no idea where she had gone,” Campbell said. “We just knew that she was camped at the Cabin Creek trailhead.”
When rescuers reached her, Granbery was conscious but very disoriented, incoherent, and unable to immediately answer questions about what had happened, Campbell said. Responders airlifted her by helicopter and transported her to a hospital.
Sage Milestone, spokesperson for the Siskiyou Sheriff’s Office, told Outside that Granbery was carrying multiple clothing layers, as well as supplies for a day hike, which helped her survive.
Campbell described Granbery’s survival as “incredible,” but said accidents like this remind people to anticipate the unexpected, even on day hikes.
“You may need to be out overnight and just be prepared to do that if that happens,” he said. “[Have] a good day pack with layers and some food, water, and just be prepared because you never know what’s going to happen.”
It’s also important to let someone know where you are going, and when you’ll return, Campbell added.
