(mm 2279.5) An August 4th 1962 blizzard caught a group of 26 backpackers unprepared on Old Snowy Mountain in the Goat Rocks Wilderness. The group of teenagers from Bellevue Presbyterian Church experienced rain, snow, and hailstorms.
They huddled together through the night, but by morning saw that one 16 year old girl, Dana Yelverton, had died in the night. Her body was retrieved by horseback by the Lewis Country sherif.
Some years later a shelter was built where she died, approximately 46°30'41.83"N, 121°27'54.87"W. It had a plaque in honor of Dana that told the story. Today the shelter is just an outline of its footprint, its stones and timbers spread across the mountainside.
Two months later, the 1962 Columbus Day storm brought 150 mph winds to Goat Rocks, and 85 mph winds to the city of Seattle.
The best account of the incident was written in 2019 by Vicki Sanders-Corporon who was in the group and survived the storm.
September 8th 2007
