Morning Report Canyoneering Excerpts Year 2000
00-479 - Zion NP (UT) - Rescue
Six members of the park's SAR team hiked into Orderville Canyon on the
evening of July 25th in response to a report of a 43-year-old visitor
with an ankle injury. Jack Reno of Clovis, California, had been
canyoneering with two friends when he rolled his ankle and suffered a
severe fracture. His companions left him behind and hiked
three-and-a-half miles to report the accident. While waiting for help
to arrive, Reno crawled about a quarter mile down the canyon. Four
members of the SAR team spent the night with him and were joined in
the morning by six more team members. Reno was carried out on a litter
through several deep pools in The Narrows on the North Fork of the
Virgin River, then floated by raft about two miles to Riverside Walk.
He was evacuated by ambulance to a hospital and treated for his
injury. Cindi Purcell was IC. [Dispatch, ZION, 7/31]
00-440 - Zion NP (UT) - Multiple Injury EMS Response
On the afternoon of July 31st, over 40 members of an American Trails
West tour group were picnicking on the grassy area in front of Zion
Lodge when a strong down canyon wind snapped the trunk of a 30-inch
diameter cottonwood tree, which then fell over onto several members of
the group. Four teenagers were transported to Dixie Regional Medical
Center for treatment of suspected C-spine and other injuries. No
serious injuries were found, however, and the four were treated and
released. Nineteen people, three ambulances and sundry emergency
response vehicles from the park and two neighboring agencies
responded. Kevin Killian was IC. [Chuck Passak, Chief of Operations,
ZION, 7/31]
00-456 - Zion NP (UT) - Falling Fatality
Georg Sender, 63, of Illertissen, Germany, died from head injuries
when he fell 10 to 15 feet while hiking off-trail near the top of
Angel's Landing on August 2nd. Several EMT's and a Swiss emergency
room physician were nearby and provided immediate medical assistance,
including CPR. The latter was terminated after 45 minutes after
consultation with the physician on scene and medical control at Dixie
Regional Medical Center. A hiker in the vicinity used his cell phone
to call for help, and park personnel were dispatched to the scene; an
NPS trail crew working nearby was first to arrive. The body was
removed by helicopter. Counselors were on scene to provide assistance
to witnesses and family and conduct a CISD debriefing for responders.
Sender was traveling with Rotel Tours of Germany. Seventeen park
personnel and a BLM contract helicopter were involved. Chuck Passeck
was IC. [Tom Haraden, Acting CI, ZION, 8/2]
00-480 - Arches NP/Canyonlands NP (UT) - Search
On August 1st, a 13-year-old boy from Woodstock, Illinois, was
mountain biking on a backcountry trail outside of Moab (and directly
across the Colorado River from Arches NP) with his father and other
members of a youth group. He biked ahead of his group, took a wrong
turn, and became lost in very rugged desert canyon terrain. An initial
search was conducted that night by county SAR team members; it proved
fruitless, so a major search was begun the following day. The NPS was
asked to assist and contributed 18 employees to the effort. The
incident involved well over 100 people from numerous local, county,
federal, private and volunteer organizations and received significant
regional media attention. Arches and Canyonlands employees worked as
trackers, ground searchers, dog team members, aerial searches, and
support staff in plans, logistics and communications. Ranger Gary
Haynes was the plans section chief. Environmental conditions were a
major consideration, with daytime temperatures reaching 110 degrees,
steep canyons, and rough and rocky terrain. The search continued until
mid-day on August 5th, when trackers found the boy's body about
two-and-a-half miles from his abandoned bicycle. There were no
injuries or heat-related illnesses during the operation despite the
prevailing conditions. [Jim Webster, CR, ARCH, 8/7]
00-489 - Great Smoky Mountains NP (NC/TN) - Rescue
On the afternoon of August 2nd, rangers responded to reports of a
woman stranded in mid-stream by rapidly rising water in the West Prong
of the Little Pigeon River, a classic Appalachian stream with a very
steep gradient and partially obstructed channel. Julie Bateman, 26, of
Hershey, Pennsylvania, had waded across the river while the water was
low, then tried to wade back after heavy rains had swollen the river's
volume. She made it part way across before deciding it was too risky
to continue on her own, then climbed onto a partly submerged boulder.
Rangers threw her a line, used the line to shuttle protective
equipment to her, then ferried an inflatable kayak across the river
and set up a Tyrolean highline to raise Bateman off the rock and pull
her to the near-side shore. Bateman's parents and boyfriend were on
scene and watched the entire rescue. [Kevin Moses, GRSM, 8/14]
Zion NP (UT) - A lightning storm on the evening of August 3rd ignited
eleven wildfires in the park - the majority of them discovered during
a reconnaissance flight the next day. The largest is called the Cable
Mountain Fire and has burned about 50 acres so far. Over 55
firefighters are being used to contain it. Two others are also burning
but are small in size. All others have died out. The weather continues
to be hot and dry, with temperatures at or above 105 degrees.
00-532 - Haleakala NP (HI) - Falling Fatality
On Saturday, August 12th, visitors saw a naked man deliberately jump
from the top of the 195-foot Makahiku Falls. They said that he
surfaced once before sinking in the pool at the base of the falls.
Local fire and EMS personnel assisted in locating the body, which was
found 12 feet under the surface of the pool. The victim was identified
as 23-year-old Joshua Bartholomew of Utah. Ranger Roger Mayo is
investigating for the park. Suicide has been ruled out by evidence
collected at the scene. [Greg Moss, HALE, 8/15]
00-540 - Shenandoah NP (VA) - Rescue
On the afternoon of August 25th, the park was notified that a
23-year-old woman had been injured in a fall in White Oak Canyon.
Mindy Shultz was swinging from a rope near a pool at the base of a
waterfall when she fell onto a rock slab underneath the surface. An
evacuation team led by ranger Liz Yee and a technical rescue team led
by ranger Bill Cardwell responded. Shultz was found at the edge of the
water, and had an open compound fracture in her lower leg. Advanced
life support was begun while the technical rescue team rigged a series
of belay points. She was extricated from the rugged canyon and
evacuated up the trail; the entire operation took over seven hours.
Shultz was taken by ambulance to Culpepper Hospital and is in good
condition. Ranger Bob Kreiling was the incident commander. [Clayton
Jordan, DR, Central District, SHEN, 8/26]
00-550 - Glen Canyon NRA (UT/AZ) - Rescue
Rangers and Coconino SAR team members were dispatched to a motor
vehicle accident on Highway 89 in Blue Pools Canyon on August 18th.
Tricia Johnson had driven her car off the road around 5 a.m. on August
17th. The vehicle went down an embankment and slammed into a narrow
canyon about 60 feet down at a high rate of speed. The vehicle was not
visible from the highway. Johnson was able to extricate herself from
the vehicle, but was unable to get out of the canyon due to the nature
of her injuries and the high angle of the canyon walls. Friends looked
for her for two days and finally found her at 10 p.m. on the 18th.
Johnson had suffered two broken arms, a broken shoulder, a punctured
lung and broken ribs. Daytime temperatures reached into the high 90s,
causing her to also suffer from dehydration. She was evacuated from
the canyon via a high-angle rescue and flown to Flagstaff on a Classic
Lifeguard helicopter. [Brian O'Dea, PR, GLCA, 8/29]
00-563 - Zion NP (UT) - Rescue
Robert Wainwright, a 55-year-old visitor from England, was descending
a slope in Hidden Canyon around 3:30 p.m. on the afternoon of
September 4th when he lost control while sliding down a rock face and
sustained a compound fracture of his lower right leg. The accident was
reported to the park and initial responders were on scene by 5 p.m.
they found Wainwright in a small alcove at the base of a 30-foot rock
obstacle. Park medics treated him and prepared him for a
three-quarter-mile technical carryout down the canyon to the
Observation Point trail. The carryout team arrived at the Weeping Wall
parking lost at 8:30 p.m. and transferred Wainwright to an ambulance.
He was taken to a hospital in St. George. This was the third visitor
injury in a week requiring an evacuation from a slot canyon. [Chuck
Passek, Chief of Operations, ZION, 9/5]
NPS AND NPS-RELATED FIRES
Zion NP (UT) - A fire was reported in the woods just north of Zion
Lodge around 1 a.m. on September 14th. Fire crews responded within 20
minutes and contained the one-acre fire. A total of about 20
firefighters and eight engines responded from the park and two local
fire departments. The fire threatened buildings and propane tanks
along the northern edge of the lodge complex. Strong down-canyon winds
fanned the flames until fire crews could slow it down. There were no
injuries or property damage. The cause of the fire is under
investigation.
00-618 - Zion NP (UT) - Search and Rescue
On the evening of September 24th, rangers were notified that
48-year-old Brian Stephens was overdue from a hike in the park.
Stephens' wife took them to the point where she'd dropped him off just
after noon, a spot four miles south of the Orderville Canyon trailhead
between Eglestead and Birch Hollows. Stephens had been on foot for 10
hours at the time of the report and was not prepared for an extended
trip. A search was begun the following morning; a dog team and later a
helicopter were utilized. Stephens was found by helicopter at 11 a.m.
He was uninjured but stuck several hundred feet below the rim of
Eglestead Hollow. Stephens had rappelled down several cliff bands, but
did not have the requisite equipment to continue. The park's technical
rescue team was flown in by helicopter. Stephens was raised to the rim
and evacuated. The guide book that Stephens was using did not provide
him with adequate information to find the correct route. [Scott Brown,
IC, ZION, 9/27]
