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SEATTLE (AP) — A 70-year-old hiker who died of hypothermia in rugged terrain in Mount Rainier National Park over the weekend was experienced, prepared and knew the mountain well after having written dozens of stories about treks through the area.

She did not have other injuries and her death was an accident, the Pierce County medical examiner's office said Monday. Karen Sykes had heart disease, according to an autopsy, but her daughter and others said she was healthy and fit and often hiked twice a week.

While not certain about the circumstances around her death, those who knew Sykes said earlier that they believed her death was something that could happen to anyone no matter how experienced.

"The mountains are big. There's a lot going on. She was extremely experienced but experience has nothing to do with any of it," said Kim Brown, who has hiked with Sykes.

"She was very careful, very cautious," Brown said of Sykes, who was prominent in the Northwest hiking community for her trail reviews and photographs and her book on hiking western Washington. "It's just something that happens out in the mountains. Everybody who goes in the mountains knows this can happen. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't go out, you need to be aware of it."

Sykes was reported missing late Wednesday when she failed to meet up with her boyfriend as planned during a day hike on the east side of the mountain.

Park officials suspended three-day search efforts on Saturday when they discovered Sykes.

Kindra Ramos, with the nonprofit Washington Trails Association, said she won't guess what happened to Sykes but said hiking comes with inherent risks.

"As they go outdoors, the best thing you could do is to have your 10 essentials, be comfortable with your surroundings, and go as far as you're comfortable," Ramos said.

She recommended proper trip planning and preparation, including reading trip reports and knowing weather conditions.

"Karen knew these things and I'm sure did them. She really had her bases covered, and unfortunately accidents happen sometimes," Ramos said. She added that Sykes would want people to know that there are some risks but "she wouldn't want to scare people from hiking."

Mary Kay Nelson, executive director of Visit Rainier, an organization that promotes tourism at the mountain, said Sykes was researching a story that she likely would have submitted to the website.

She said Sykes had written about more than 100 hikes in the Rainier area, and "was always eager to find new places to go, hidden hikes that weren't well-traveled."

Nelson said Sykes' disappearance was particularly shocking because she was so experienced.

"It tells us that no matter how prepared we are, accidents happens and things can happen. We need to take outdoor recreation seriously. There's a certain amount of risk every day we get up, whatever we do," she said.

Since 2000, 18 hikers have died in Mount Rainier National Park, including from falls, drowning and heart attacks, according to park statistics.

Annette Shirey, 52, who lives in Tucson, Arizona, said her mother had a personal connection to the mountain and wanted to share that love with others.

"The mountains were always a place that gave her strength and (were) always uplifting for her," she said. "It helped restore her spirit and her strength."

The head of the IRS brushed aside accusations Monday that the agency has obstructed investigations into the targeting of Tea Party and other political groups, even as Republican lawmakers questioned his credibility.

Commissioner John Koskinen was appearing at a rare evening hearing on Capitol Hill to answer questions about lost emails by a key figure in the probe. On Tuesday, the committee will hear from a White House official who once worked at the IRS.

"I know tonight will be difficult, and it deserves to be difficult for both sides," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight Committee. "We have a problem with you, and you have a problem with maintaining your credibility."

Issa accused Koskinen of misleading the Oversight Committee in the spring, when he promised to turn over Lois Lerner's emails. Since then, the IRS has disclosed that Lerner's computer crashed in 2011, losing an unknown number of those emails.

Koskinen said he first learned there was a problem with Lerner's computer in February, but didn't learn that emails were lost until April. The IRS notified Congress June 13.

Lerner is the former head of the division that processes applications for tax-exempt status. The Oversight Committee is investigating the handling of applications from Tea Party and other political groups.

"I subpoenaed you here tonight because, frankly, I'm sick and tired of your game-playing in response to congressional oversight," Issa told Koskinen. "You, commissioner, are the president's hand-picked man to restore trust and accountability at the IRS. You testified under oath in March that you would produce all of Lois Lerner's emails subpoenaed by this committee."

"Mr. Commissioner, at a minimum you didn't tell the whole truth that you knew on that day," Issa added.

Koskinen said, "All the emails we have will be provided. I did not say I would provide you emails that disappeared. If you have a magical way for me to do that I'd be happy to know about it."

He added, "I never said I would provide you emails we didn't have."

Koskinen said congressional investigators were informed months ago that Lerner had computer problems back in 2011. Koskinen said emails provided to the committee last fall showed that Lerner's computer had crashed.

The emails indicate that Lerner had lost some data, though they don't explicitly say that Lerner's emails were lost. They were provided to congressional investigators as part of the Tea Party investigation.

"So it should be clear that no one has been keeping this information from Congress," Koskinen said.

In 2011, the IRS had a policy of backing up emails on computer tapes, but the tapes were recycled every six months, Koskinen said. He said Lerner's hard drive was recycled and presumably destroyed.

The IRS inspector general is investigating the lost emails, Koskinen said.

"It is not unusual for computers anywhere to fail, especially at the IRS in light of the aged equipment IRS employees often have to use in light of the continual cuts in its budget these past four years," Koskinen said. "Since Jan. 1 of this year, for example, over 2,000 employees have suffered hard drive crashes."

The IRS was able to generate 24,000 Lerner emails from the 2009 to 2011 period because she had copied in other IRS employees. Overall, the IRS said it is producing a total of 67,000 emails to and from Lerner, covering the period from 2009 to 2013

Lerner, who is now retired from the IRS, has refused to testify at two Oversight Committee hearings, invoking her constitutional right against self-incrimination.

Congressional investigators have shown that IRS officials in Washington were closely involved in handling Tea Party applications, many of which languished for more than a year without action. But so far, they have not publicly produced evidence that anyone outside the agency directed the targeting or knew about it.

If anyone outside the agency was involved, investigators were hoping for clues in Lerner's emails. The White House says it has found no emails between anyone in the executive office of the president and Lerner.

"Republicans have been trying desperately — and unsuccessfully — for more than a year to link this scandal to the White House," said Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee. "Rather than continuing on this path, I sincerely hope we will turn to constructive legislation with concrete solutions to help federal agencies run more effectively and efficiently."

Koskinen said there was no evidence that Lerner intentional destroyed the emails. To the contrary, the IRS went to great lengths trying to retrieve lost documents on Lerner's computer, even sending it to the agency's forensic lab, he said.

The Oversight Committee is holding a second hearing on the lost emails Tuesday, which sparked a back-and-forth with the White House. Issa invited an attorney in the White House counsel's office to testify, but the White House balked, saying her appearance wasn't necessary.

Issa responded Monday evening by issuing a subpoena for Jennifer O'Connor, who worked at the IRS from May to November 2013, helping the agency gather documents related to congressional investigations, Issa said. O'Connor has since moved to the White House counsel's office.

Issa said he wants to ask O'Connor about Lerner's lost emails. Late Monday, the White House said O'Connor would testify.

The leader of Thailand's one-time opposition, who led mass anti-government demonstration in the run-up to last month's military coup, has acknowledged for the first time that he acted as an advisor to the army general who seized power.

Suthep Thaugsuban, whose "yellow shirt" movement sought to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra before her government was ousted in last month's coup, told a group of supporters in Bangkok on Monday that he'd been offering advice to Army Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha for four years on how to root out the influence of Thailand's "red shirt" movement, The Bangkok Post reports.

In his remarks, Suthep made it clear that as leader of the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee, he closely cooperation with the coup leaders well before they launched their May 22 putsch.

"Before martial law was declared, Gen Prayuth told me 'Khun Suthep and your masses of PDRC supporters are too exhausted. It's now the duty of the army to take over the task,' " Suthep was quoted by the Post as saying.

Suthep, who as deputy prime minister in 2010 ordered a bloody crackdown on the red shirts in the capital, has pleaded not guilty on murder charges related to the incident, which resulted in the deaths of about 90 protesters.

Yingluck's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was swept to power in a landslide promising populist measures that garnered the votes of many of the country's poor, rural rice farmers — a result that angered many among Thailand's establishment elites.

Thaksin was ousted in a coup in 2006. Yingluck was elected four years later and again earlier this year in an election boycotted by the opposition. She was forced to step down after losing a court case just days before last month's coup.

As we reported in December, months before the coup Suthep acknowledged at a rally of his supporters that he'd met with Gen. Prayuth, sparking concern at the time that a coup might be in the works. Days later, Prayuth himself helped fuel speculation.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The pope and queen of England are squaring off on the cricket pitch — sort of.

The Vatican's new cricket team is going on tour, fielding a largely Indian team to play an Anglican squad at the Kent County Cricket Club and the royal household's XI at Windsor Castle.

The Sept. 12-20 "Light of Faith Tour" aims to forge closer ties between the Catholic and Anglican churches, which split in 1534 after English King Henry VIII was refused a marriage annulment. A half-millennium later, the two churches remain divided on a host of issues, including female bishops.

On the pitch though, the teams will play a Twenty20 match for a common cause: to raise money for an interfaith initiative to combat human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

The Vatican formed its team last year, tapping mostly Indian and Sri Lankan priests, deacons and seminarians studying in Rome. The idea was to play an Anglican squad in England in a show of ecumenical good sportsmanship, according to the godfather of the project, Australia's ambassador to the Holy See and longtime cricket aficionado, John McCarthy.

But during Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby's recent visit to Rome, members of the St. Peter's Cricket Club indicated they would like to meet with the queen, royal family or household as well during their tour.

On the eve of the announcement of the team lineup for the Sept. 19 Catholic-Anglican match at Kent, the royal household confirmed the invitation for the Vatican team to play at Windsor for a warm-up match Sept. 17.

"This initiative has taken on royal proportions," quipped team manager the Rev. Eamonn O'Higgins.

"We hope through what we do, through our example, through the way we play and the way we conduct ourselves in England and on the tour, we'll be known not just as moderate cricket players, but people through whom God's presence is made evident," he told reporters Monday.

The Vatican's culture ministry has long embraced sports as an important area for the Catholic Church, to engage with young people and offer its values amid corruption, match-fixing, doping and other problems afflicting sport today, said Monsignor Melchor Sanchez de Toca, the No. 2 in the Vatican's culture ministry.

"The world of sports needs to be healed," he said. "Those responsible for the international federation of sports and Olympic committees are aware of the evils surrounding the world of sports — sometimes they are even accomplices — but they do not know how to cope with this problem."

"We want to be there and to help the world of sports to find its values," he said.

Not that the pope's squad isn't gearing up for some hard-fought matches.

McCarthy, the Australian ambassador, said he had heard that Queen Elizabeth II's royal household team featured Grenadier Guards and the royal household cavalry.

"We will take the Swiss Guards if that's the case," he said.

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Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield