Search for Overdue Backpacker on the North Rim, Grand Canyon

On Thursday, members of our Coconino County Search and Rescue team headed out to help the National Park Service with a search in the area of Sowats Point and Jumpup on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Volunteers were told they needed to be prepared to be self-sufficient for 48 hours.

I don't know a lot about the search at this time, except that the 64-year-old solo hiker was on a strenuous multi-day trip including the Bill Hall Trail and was due out of the canyon on Monday. After the Park Service was notified, presumably by family, that the hiker was overdue, they conducted some of their own investigation and searching before contacting Coconino SAR for assistance on Wednesday afternoon. I'm told that high winds have hampered aircraft searches in the area.

If the search continues beyond Saturday, I expect more requests for Coconino SAR's assistance. My backpack is always ready, just in case.

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In other Coco SAR news...

On June 8th, the team was called out to help with evacuations and road blocks associated with a wildfire in the Turkey Hills area east of Flagstaff. This turned out to be an intentionally set fire—make that fires because there were 14 of them (!) along a gas pipeline—which forced the evacuation of approximately 50 area residents and burned an unoccupied mobile home. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the fire was quickly contained by several ground crews and air tankers.

As the firefighting efforts were underway, a woman approached one of our team members at a road block. Visibly upset, she spoke to the SAR volunteer for several minutes, then admitted she was concerned that a family member had started the fires. Information was taken from the individual, and then SAR contacted the Sheriff's Office.

In the early hours of June 9th, 20-year-old Obrian Wilson Kee was arrested and eventually admitted to starting the fires because he was upset with his girlfriend. See: Arrest Made in Hill Fire from the Arizona Daily Sun.

SAR also recently responded to three calls for lost or overdue hikers on the same day. All were quickly located and in good condition.

We have a feeling this is going to continue to be a busy summer for Coconino County Search and Rescue, in part because Arizona's White Mountains have been torched by the Wallow Fire, likely bringing even more people to the northern part of the state for outdoor recreation. 

SAR Called to Assist with the Wallow Fire (and Some P-SAR Too)

It's now the second largest wildfire in Arizona history, having burned more than 486 square miles as of Tuesday (so more by now) and still moving 5 to 8 miles per day. That's almost as big as the city of Phoenix! 2,500 firefighters from several western states and some as far away as New York are working to contain the blaze, which is burning in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near Springerville, Arizona. "The blaze has consumed 311,481 acres since it started May 29. It has been propelled by wind gusts of more than 60 mph." (Arizona Daily Sun)

Yesterday, our search and rescue team received a call to respond for an extended mission from Thursday through the weekend, to assist with road blocks and perhaps other assignments in connection with the Wallow Fire. Our coordinator said we'll probably be asked to do the same multiple times over the next few weeks.

See:  Northern Arizona Fire Personnel Help Fight Wallow Fire, Others to find out who else is responding from Coconino County.

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In other team news...

Last Saturday, several of us set up a booth at the Outdoor Festival at Mormon Lake, co-hosted by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Mormon Lake Lodge. The day was filled with activities, including archery, fishing, and horseback rides, and there were information booths from a variety of exhibitors and live animals from the Game and Fish Department's Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center.

The theme of our SAR booth was the ten essentials of hiking, with the ten essential categories being navigation, illumination, insulation, nutrition, hydration, shelter (which, in our case, was as simple as a rain poncho or a survival blanket with grommets so it could be used as a tarp), tools and repair, sun protection, first aid, and (although it feels strange to say so right now, given the first part of this post) fire-starting.

Coconino County SAR members teach children and adults about the ten essentials.

We gave out P-SAR cards ("P" being for preventative), which list the 10 essentials and other hiking and preparedness tips. We also had examples of those essential items. On the one hand, we had a large Zip-loc baggie with a condensed version of these essentials, which would be an appealing size and weight for a lot of people, adults and children, who go for recreational day-hikes. We also had a few of our search and rescue packs for more extensive examples of 10-essential gear, which would be appropriate for longer hikes and more extreme weather.

A lot of children visited our booth, and they seemed to really enjoy going through the list on the P-SAR cards, reading off each item and then searching for it in the baggie. Some wanted to see if they could lift my backpack. And some also got a little quiz. We ask, "If you got lost, what would you do?" and heard a lot of really good answers about ways to signal for help. Many eventually got around to the main answer we were looking for: sit down and stay put. Or "hug a tree" as we like say. We also asked the kids what they can do to prevent getting lost in the first place. (Parents seemed happy to hear that question.)

So, it was a good day for SAR community education. We were invited to return to the festival next year.

A Body Recovery at Midgley Bridge

Midgley Bridge - Credit Flickr CC

I know it might sound cold: "body recovery." After all, just a short time before we arrived at the scene, that body had been a living, breathing man—an 80-year-old man who, for some reason we weren't aware of, had made the decision to end his life. At about 8:30 a.m. on Friday, June 3, a woman reported that she'd just received a call from her husband, who was about to jump from the bridge. Soon after deputies arrived, that man, who had already climbed over the railing, let go.

Our team has been to Midgley Bridge in Sedona's Oak Creek Canyon before, for the same type of mission. In fact, when the call is for Midgley Bridge, it's usually preceded or followed by the words "body recovery." Certainly not an easy thing to do in any sense of the word. But speaking for myself, dealing with that grim task is made easier by the fact that I'm doing it with my teammates, who understand the range of emotions that goes along with the physical effort.

Following such missions, which all of those volunteers present had been through before, critical incident management (basically, counseling) was offered to us, either immediately or at any time after that.

While I have to admit that I'm okay with what I did and saw, I can't help but wonder about that man and why, after 80 years of life, he chose to leave it in the way that he did. I can't imagine the feeling of helplessness, sorrow, pain, or perhaps something else that would drive someone to that. I hope he'll rest in peace.