Lucy Fairweather was hiking the West Australia's Stirling Range Ridge Walk in April of this year, taking in stunning views as she ate her lunch.
Unfortunately, she broke her ankle shortly after and had to be winched off the mountain pass by helicopter.
The mountainous, multi-day hike across the Stirling Range National Park is considered one of the state's toughest.
Her rescue marked the 11,000th mission for the RAC rescue helicopter service since it was established in 2003.
Ms Fairweather said the rescue was surreal.
"To be rescued off the mountain within three hours of having actually fallen was way faster than I expected," she said.
"I think just as you get lifted off the ground and feel your weight being taken by that bag, and then you start to see the view, where you were receding — crazy experience."
Thankfully, the Perth woman is nearly off her crutches and was reunited with the helicopter crew to celebrate the milestone earlier this week.
Bluff Knoll, in the Great Southern, is one of WA's highest peaks. (ABC News: Andrew Chounding)
'Amazing' to see patients smiling
St John Ambulance critical care paramedic James Vine said it has been amazing to reconnect with Ms Fairweather.
"It's always wonderful to touch base with patients again, and see the actual recovery and close that loop really for us," he said.
"We get kind of a real small snapshot of patients and their injuries and their families, but to see a smiling face rather than a grimacing face is always nice."
A critical care paramedic winches a patient aboard a rescue helicopter alongside Stirling Range Ridge Walk. (Supplied: DFES)
Mr Vine said it was not often you attend the scene of a rescue and people have the right gear.
"You often get down there and find that people aren't as well prepared as maybe they should be," he said.
"It was a refreshing change for ourselves; they were in the middle of a multi-day hike, so they were well prepared.
It has been an above-average year for rescues from the Stirling Range, with six already recorded.
Lucy Fairweather had to be rescued via helicopter when she injured her foot while hiking the Stirling Range Ridge Walk. (ABC News: Jon Daly)
'We were so impressed'
Ms Fairweather said it was great to come back and see her rescuers.
"It was really cool to get the chance to come back and say hi and hear about it from their perspective," she said.
"Particularly, they said at the time that it was the 11,000th rescue."
A rescue team prepares to winch down to a stranded hiker. (Supplied: DFES)
Conducting a rescue is not a simple task: with about 25 people from different emergency services involved, it takes about eight hours from start to finish.
RAC Rescue helicopter pilot Matthew Mayne said Ms Fairweather's rescue was more efficient than usual.
"The Stirling Ranges is a challenging, difficult environment, but the weather always has the last say," he said.
"We flew over the ridge line where Lucy said she was, and she was exactly where she said, and the cloud was above us, the winds were light.
"Probably not even 10 minutes later, we came back in to extract both [Lucy and the paramedic] off the ridge line."
A RAC Rescue helicopter flying past Ellen Peak in WA's Stirling National Park. (Supplied: DFES)
Three months after Ms Fairweather was told by the doctor she had "shattered" her ankle, she is looking to make a full recovery.
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