Looking for a few guys interested in going up to Donut to rap the falls. Yeah, it's not that impressive, but it would be one of those things to get pictures and "because we can."
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Looking for a few guys interested in going up to Donut to rap the falls. Yeah, it's not that impressive, but it would be one of those things to get pictures and "because we can."
I wonder what the flow is like through there right now?... I may be interested depending on when you went :)
I went hiking up there last weekend and the volume was too much then
I seem to recall a few years ago a kid was killed up there in the late spring when part of the bank collapsed on him. Take care.
Falling boulder kills canyon hiker
By Laura Hancock- Deseret News staff writer
Thursday, May 22, 2003
BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON — A 22-year-old man was killed near Doughnut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon Wednesday when a 5-ton rock came loose and crushed him.
Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office identified the hiker as Seth Buhr, 22, Salt Lake City.
Buhr and three friends hiked to the falls area Wednesday afternoon, sheriff's deputy Peggy Faulkner said. They trekked through 8 feet of snow to the upper canyon elevations, taking a break next to the pool under the falls.
While they were resting, a boulder estimated to be about 4 feet by 4 feet and 10,000 pounds began to roll toward Buhr and one of his friends, said Sgt. Lane Larkin, who supervises search and rescue operations.
Buhr pushed his friend out of the way but was unable to get himself out of the way.
"He pushed his friend out of the way, into the water, which saved her life. And he was killed," Larkin said.
Jeannette Smith told KSL-TV Buhr was always putting others before himself, but she does not know why she was pushed out of the way. "I'm not sure if he pushed me out of trying to get out of the way or if that was his conscious thought" to save her, she said.
Smith and the other hikers are struggling with their friend's death. "I have to wonder why him. Why not one of us? We have all done a lot of thinking."
Another woman tried to push the rock off Buhr and injured her hand, Larkin said. The size of the rock made it impossible to move. The other two hikers in the group were uninjured, he said.
The injured woman left the group to find help and met hikers Mike and Elizabeth Purcell about midway down the trail. Mike Purcell went to help the others, while Elizabeth Purcell took the injured woman to Alta View Hospital. She was treated for minor injuries and released, Faulkner said.
The Purcells declined comment.
Sheriff's deputies were called about 1:32 p.m., Larkin said. Seventeen search and rescue team members hiked to the scene. They secured multiple ropes around the rock and applied 6,500 pounds of pressure to move the boulder 6 inches — enough room to remove the body, Larkin said.
"That rock could have moved anywhere — years ago or years in the future," he said.
This is the second time in a month that boulders caused injury to hikers in Utah recreation areas.
In April, Aron Ralston of Aspen, Colo., had his right arm pinned by an 800-pound rock while hiking outside of Canyonlands National Park. Ralston, who was alone, spent five days pinned there before amputating his own arm with a pocketknife. He hiked to safety and was rescued. He was hospitalized for a week in Grand Junction, Colo. Doctors were unable to reattach Ralston's arm.
I'll put this off for a few weeks. Lets see what the waterflow is like in Mid-July.
It's mid July now, anyone know what it's like up there? Sounds like fun
BCC is still raging.... I haven't been up to donut falls but I bet you are at least a couple weeks out..... maybe end of July.... YMMV...
Yep, saw BCC creek up close last night, as well as the stream coming out from Stairs Gulch. Still high flow.
Accident had the canyon closed at Storm Mountain. Car going too fast, drinking involved, slammed into another car around a turn (left hand turn just downhill from the picnic entrance at Storm Mountain). Too out two parked cars on the south side of the road too. Crazy. Glad we were parked just downhill on the other side of the road. No one killed, thankfully. Still can't understand why folks would park under those steep loose banks. Oh well...