Man stuck in quicksand at Zion National Park (Subway) rescued after 2 days

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ZION NATIONAL PARK (KUTV) -- Zion National Park search and rescue crews spent the night in a snowstorm after rescuing a man who got stuck in quicksand.

On Saturday, Zion dispatchers received a report of a 34-year-old man from Arizona who got his leg stuck in quicksand.


"He was located approximately 3 hours up the Left Fork of the North Creek, also known as The Subway route from bottom-up," Aly Baltrus with Zion National Park said in a news release. "His leg was buried up to his knee and he was unable to free himself. He had hiked the Left Fork Trail with a companion, also from Arizona, when he became stuck. He and his companion tried to free his leg and were unsuccessful. His companion left him with warm gear and clothing and hiked to call for help. It was approximately 3 hours until she got cell phone service and was able to call 911."

A search and rescue team was assembled to locate the man and his female companion.

Crews first found the woman and provided her with aid, because she was showing signs of hypothermia.

Several hours later, crews found the man, who was still stuck in the quicksand, and was also showing signs of hypothermia.

Crews tried for two hours to free the man from the quicksand, and were able to do so late Saturday night.

Because it was so late, search and rescue crews spent the night with the patient in frigid conditions where four inches of snow fell.

"The next morning, the Utah DPS helicopter responded from Salt Lake City," Baltrus said in a news release. "The ongoing winter storms in the area decreased visibility for aircraft all morning. Only after a small break in the weather occurred in the afternoon, the DPS helicopter was able safely extricated the patient with a hoist rescue operation. The patient was transported to an awaiting ambulance and transported to the hospital."

Both the man who was stuck in the quicksand, and his companion who hiked and called for help are expected to be okay.

https://kutv.com/news/local/man-stuc...-in-snow-storm

I have some pictures and videos of us toying in the quicksand here; it's 2 feet deep for sure and everytime we could touch the bottom and do a self-rescue and I'll have to post some when I get home from work. But if you weren't paying attention, you could easily get a foot stuck here. That's in fact, how we discovered it. (And I'm sure many others too).

Fun fact - I was looking through my notes and I show that it formed in the spring of 2017 during the spring runoff. That quicksand trap is still going strong!

Rescue video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7tA...ature=youtu.be

Here is a video I just barely made showcasing the Quicksand:

https://youtu.be/SH97KRdCIHA

I wonder if they ever find justification to use a drone for faster scouting, or if they are still so anti drone that they waste valuable time and money getting the full flight crew together and searching by eyesight for the people in need.

My guess is the latter.

I believe some SAR teams have begun using drones, but like most things new it takes time for the value to seep into the old gaurd.

Any word about rodents of unusual size in there?

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Originally Posted by uintafly

Any word about rodents of unusual size in there?

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I don't think they exist..

I have never been stuck in quicksand. However, this story boggles my mind. He was only stuck up to his knee on one leg and couldn't free himself? I don't get this at all. Would not a helmet be used to dig? A stick? A knife? I am not diss-ing this individual but genuinely interested how this happened and how they couldn't self-rescue or it took the rescuers more than 2 hours to dig 18 inches to two feet?

*Edit: On CanyonCollective there is a pretty good discussion on this topic but for the life of me I still can't figure out how this happened.

I am and will always be an overgrown kid...so whenever I encounter quicksand, I can’t help but play around with it. I’m talking about the REAL stuff, the kind that vibrates like jello15 feet from where you put your foot down. The most heavy duty of it along the Escalante between Scorpion and Coyote Gulch. Anything much past the knee can be trouble as it can create a suction that’ll lock you in. I’ve come close a couple times. I can understand how this happened...the guy probably did’nt know any better. Don’t screw with the stuff that vibrates.

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Originally Posted by Scott Card

*Edit: On CanyonCollective there is a pretty good discussion on this topic but for the life of me I still can't figure out how this happened.

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https://fox13now.com/2019/02/18/hike...-for-10-hours/

I thought the same thing, but this article says he was stuck to his waist on his right leg, left was up to his knee

It is sad that intelligent, experienced outdoorspeople read a news report and think that they got it correct the first time around. On a technical issue like this, as on many other issues, the news tries its best, but are not well-equipped to get the details right.

There are many interesting details that have come out with the actual interviews with the two people involved. Some bad decisions made there... but yes, he got stuck up to his hip on one leg. At which point it is really difficult to get out on your own, and/or requires special techniques most people would not know.

Tom

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Originally Posted by twotimer

I am and will always be an overgrown kid...so whenever I encounter quicksand, I can’t help but play around with it. I’m talking about the REAL stuff, the kind that vibrates like jello15 feet from where you put your foot down. The most heavy duty of it along the Escalante between Scorpion and Coyote Gulch. Anything much past the knee can be trouble as it can create a suction that’ll lock you in. I’ve come close a couple times. I can understand how this happened...the guy probably did’nt know any better. Don’t screw with the stuff that vibrates.

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I am an overgrown kid also , ( my wife calls it dumbass ) I seek out quicksand all the time to teach the younger clan members how to handle the situation when encountered. I have run into some that requires much more technique to remove oneself from.

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