OSO — Oso resident Pamela Almli, 54, took a hike Aug. 2 and she won’t be coming home.

She was shot dead by a young teenage hunter from Concrete.

Almli was on a day hike with a friend on Sauk Mountain, just north of Highway 20 at Rockport.

Bear season had just recently opened for hunting and there have been lots of bears in the area this season.

“There are regulations about which areas are open and closed to hunting, but that area is open,” Skagit County Chief Criminal Deputy Will Reichardt said.

“There is a debate about whether popular hiking areas should be open to hunting, but that area is legal.”

Almli’s sister-in-law, Teresa Smith said Almli loved the mountains and being outdoors.

“She was on the trails constantly,” said Smith. “She liked to bike and canoe as well as hike. She also enjoyed taking photographs while on her outdoor adventures,” said the wife of her brother, Jeff.

Pam and Bill had one son, who provided them with three grandchildren, Alexandria, Kjell and Helena.

“Pam loved taking her grandchildren outside,” Teresa Smith said.

She also loved to keep her four-and-a-half acres mowed, just like her mother, Hjortis.

Pamela Smith was 12 when she moved to Oso from Alaska. She attended Arlington High School and married Arlingtonian Bill Almli.

“It’s just shocking,” Smith said. “So many lives are changed forever.”

Reichardt said that detectives met with prosecutors Aug. 4, but as of press time, he had no idea what the charging decision would be, if any.

A memorial is set for 4 p.m., Aug. 6, at the Oso Fire Hall.