Arizona man rescued from quicksand in Zion National Park

[hikeaz]

Rescue crews spent hours rescuing an Mesa, Arizona man stuck in quicksand at Zion National Park.
According to park officials, the 34-year-old man was on the Left Fork of the North Creek (aka The Subway) on Saturday and had gotten stuck in quicksand.
The man was reportedly stuck in knee-deep sand and was unable to free himself. A woman he was hiking with, also from Arizona, left warm clothes for the man and hiked three hours to get cell phone service to call for help.
A search-and-rescue team eventually found the woman, also from Arizona, who was showing signs of hypothermia, and then located the man in the middle of the creek.
They spent two hours freeing him, and he was suffering from exposure, hypothermia and other injuries.
Rangers reportedly spent the night with the patient and endured freezing weather and several inches of snowfall. During a break in the weather the next day the man was flown out to Salt Lake City.

[big_load]

Yikes! I'd expect to be able to free myself if only knee-deep, especially if I had trekking poles. I remember sinking that deep when crossing The Narrows in Grand Gulch with a bunch of HAZ folks in early spring. (My notes say Wendy was the first one into the quicksand).

[ photoset ]

[hikeaz]

Considering the weather I am sure they were MOTIVATED to extricate. Maybe more details will come to light.