SEATTLE -- A Quilcene man is hospitalized in satisfactory condition Monday after getting strung up in a bizarre climbing accident Sunday.

The Coast Guard helicopter lifted 46-year-old Gary David off a cliff in Camp Discovery near Quilcene in Jefferson County late Sunday night.

David said he was on the beach with friends near Quilcene when he decided to climb up a hill overlooking Dabob Bay to check out an old abandoned tram car cable. Once he got to the top he found a rope and thought it might be fun to ride the cable down, but before he knew it he was hanging upside down.

"I thought I would just attach it to the cable with a knot that you can use to control your descent, and then the knot got out of my reach and I couldn't get a hold of it to slide down any further," David said.

He couldn't slide and when he tried to push the other end of the rope off his legs, he flipped over and was dangling upside down by his legs.

“I was hanging upside down by rope for approximately an hour," he said. "I didn't know if I was ever going to get down. I thought I would be stuck there forever and die."

Eventually friends and a neighbor came to his aid, knocking the tram cable off a tree so he could reach the ground and be untied. Firefighters used chain saws to clear trees from the area, which allowed a Coast Guard helicopter to hoist David to the hospital.

"I probably wouldn't do it again, it was kind of dumb," David said.

He is at Harborview Medical Center and said on Monday that he’s OK, but very tired and spending much of his time sleeping after his adventure.

"I'm a little sore. My legs are a little sore, but other than that I feel good," David said.

David said he definitely wouldn't do this again without a little more planning.

He's expected to be well enough to get out of the hospital as early as Tuesday.