Teen airlifted after horse kick on Johnson Pass Trail

A teenage girl was kicked by a horse on Johnson Pass Trail near Moose Pass on July 3 and airlifted to an Anchorage-area hospital after a rescue that required ATVs, a boat, and a medical flight.

The Rescue

Alaska State Troopers received the call at 12:08 p.m. and classified the response as a search and rescue operation. The girl was riding with three others when one of the horses kicked her, roughly two miles up the trail. The US Forest Service, Moose Pass Medics, and Bear Creek Fire responded. Responders used ATVs to carry her to Upper Trail Lake, then moved her by boat to Moose Pass before a medical flight completed the evacuation.

Timing

The July 3 incident fell three days after the Forest Service's seasonal closure to horses and pack stock on the trail ended. The Alaska State Troopers dispatch was posted July 7, four days after the incident. The condition of the patient was not included in the dispatch.