A phone call from a concerned resident in Washington state ended up saving the life of a German woman who was attempting to hike through the Cascades to the Canadian border without the proper gear as snow and cold hit the region on Monday. Nancy Abel of Sultan, Washington originally met the German woman, Katharina Groene, about a week ago as she was hiking near Stevens Pass. Katharine told Nancy that she had started off on a solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail at the Mexican border in May and was determined to keep going to the Canadian border. Nancy, who is an avid hiker, joined Katharina for the first couple of miles of her trek from Stevens Pass and tried to talk her out of hiking so far north in the mountains so late in the year without the proper equipment and experience, but Katharina believed she was well prepared for the weather and kept heading north.