Coast Guard plucks climber off mountain, sailboat off the rocks Sunday

A Coast Guard helicopter crew flying at just over 7,000 feet elevation plucked an injured climber off The Brothers in the Olympic Mountains -- the highest rescue achieved by the service in the region.

John Williams, a 64-year-old resident of Belfair in Mason County, ruptured an Achilles tendon, a Coast Guard spokesman said Monday. Williams was treated and released Sunday night from Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles.

The Coast Guard received the call from Jefferson County dispatchers at 7:45 p.m. Sunday.

The crew from Air Station Port Angeles hoisted Williams off near the summit of The Brothers, a peak rising 6,866 feet near the southwest boundary of Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest.

The Coast Guard on Sunday also assisted four people on a vessel that ran aground at the sound end of Lopez Island. The 36-foot vessel Shekinech called for help at about 5:10 p.m.

A 33-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Bellingham pulled the Shekinech off the rocks. A commercial vessel towed the boat to Oak Harbor.

No injuries were reported.