Santa Rosa woman, 66, rescued from John Muir Trail

Tara Steele embarked on the longest hike of her life this month - 19 days alone on the John Muir Trail except for what she packed on her back.

Sunday the 66-year-old Santa Rosa resident was on her eighth day. Things were going well. Steele was making good time and the high altitude - she started the day at 8,000 feet - didn't seem to be bothering her.

But Sunday evening after she suffered a stroke, a dramatic trail rescue involving the Fresno County Sheriff's Office and CHP saved her life.

A CHP video shows the rescue, which began about 7 p.m. in a deeply forested area where the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail meet.

“Are you able to sit up?” the Fresno County sheriff's deputy asks in the video.

“Yes, but I list,” says Steele, wrapped in warm clothes, a scarf and hat. “I tip over. ... My balance is really screwy.”

About six hikers plus the sheriff's deputy strapped Steele into a stretcher and placed her inside the hoist.

The CHP helicopter crew raised her up through a small break in the trees, a break that Steele described as no larger than three tent-widths.

By 8 p.m., she was being flown to Fresno's Community Regional Medical Center.

Almost surely, though, the rescue wouldn't have been possible if she hadn't carried a personal locator beacon - a device meant to be used only in dire circumstances. She actually bought it to stay in touch with her daughter, Erica Mikesh, in Santa Rosa, because it allows two-way texting via satellites.

She never thought she'd have to use its emergency feature, which transmits a distress signal to a frequency monitored by rescue agencies.

It also communicates with satellites to determine location, and transmits coordinates quickly to search and rescue groups.

About 3:45 p.m. Sunday, she decided that rather than break for the night, she could make the last 2 miles to Squaw Lake, and so kept pushing.

“About halfway, I noticed I was really wobbling on the trail,” she said Thursday from home where she was recovering.

“I pulled over and thought maybe I was undernourished.”

She tried to eat, but couldn't. She couldn't even swallow.

That's when she noticed her lips were numb.

Steele was having a stroke. And she was alone.

“I actually debated using (the beacon), and when I noticed my lips were numb, I thought - this isn't some passing issue. I need to get medical attention.”

About 4:30 p.m., she made that choice, and texted her daughter: “Having a stroke. Need help.”

When she began having double vision it practically immobilized her.

But luck was with Steele, a minister at the Center for Spiritual Living.

“I was just sitting by the side of the trail, and in about 15 minutes this first group of four hikers came up,” she said. “... I said, ‘Hey, I think I'm having a stroke. I need help.' And they immediately said what do you need? How can we help.”

At home Thursday, she was struggling with double vision and using a walker. Her doctor told her the stroke she suffered is usually fatal.

“My mind was never affected,” she said, “and in a funny way, it almost seems like it's sharper than it was. It's very odd.”

Doctors tell her the symptoms should resolve, and she plans on being out backpacking again by spring.

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 707-521-5205.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Tara Steele is a minister at the Center for Spiritual Living in Santa Rosa. The name of the church was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.