West Clear - Indian Maiden Falls - Ooops

[hikeaz]

In a canyon 70 feet below the Indian Maiden Falls trail, Jacob Velarde laid broken and bruised. After taking a wrong turn on the path, Velarde felt the ground fall out beneath him. He dropped 70 feet into a canyon where he stayed for 24 hours. Velarde planned a route that would take the entire night and the next afternoon. He fell around 8 a.m. the first morning and no one would have expected him until around 1 p.m. the next day. That would be 29 hours before Velarde's brother would even think to be concerned. Velarde fractured his skull, orbital bone, nose and ankle. He sustained a concussion and multiple cuts and bruises to his entire body. But he said he is happy to have come away without anything more serious.

[FOTG]

Looks like another case of when AllTrails goes wrong

[wildwesthikes]

Oops indeed. Here's the route he was doing presumably based on the description of a 12 mile roundtrip out n back:
[ West Clear Creek Trail #17 to Maiden Falls ]

[ALMAL]

Yikes! When the trail leads you down close to the creek, some folks go left which is sketchy if you ask me. I have a feeling this guy fell after having hung a left. If you go right, then continue another 1/4 mile before turning left down to the creek, that little trail is much less vertical. Plenty of people go to the left, so likely he just wasn't careful enough. I think I read it happened on a Tuesday or Wednesday so he's kind of lucky people came by so soon. But, I almost forgot I was camped a mile upstream from that area on May 1st this year and 42 people passed me headed for the falls. Pre-pandemic he may have had a longer wait?

[nonot]

Since he fell at 8 AM, I'm wondering if he fell somewhere higher up the trail closer to the trailhead, but to do that you'd have to wander seriously off trail towards the unnamed side canyon. The article did say he fell into "a canyon".

The article leaves a lot to be desired - I can't tell from reading the article if he self-rescued, was rescued by SAR, or if another passing hiker lent a hand. The timeline suggests he self-rescued, in which case, he deserves some credit. Many people would succumb to panic in this situation and would fare worse. He's very lucky that he didn't sustain worse injuries which helped too.

Edit:
Seems someone found him and he was rescued:

a family who had been hiking the same route as Velarde stumbled upon the injured hiker in the canyon the next morning around 8 a.m.

"I honestly thought I was imagining them, but I was extremely excited," Velarde recalls, noting that the family called for help to get him rescued.

First responders later airlifted Velarde to the hospital, where he was treated for his multiple injuries, according to KPNX.

[hikeaz]

@nonot He was found by a family the next AM. The dad-unit RAN out of the canyon to get 'service', made the call and the injured guy was heli'd out. In an ironic twist he credited his 'water filter' to helping to save his life. (Like intestinal flu after a coupla days would have been his biggest headache...)

[big_load]

Ouch! I'm glad he made it out OK.

[nonot]

@hikeaz
Yeah, I found the rest of the article ... what's interesting is that he seemed to give the website some additional photos, and he is clearly following a cairned path along the bottom of a canyon yet he appears to still be several hundred feet in elevation above the creek level. The WCC #17 trail, as I recall, never wanders through the bottom of the canyon. Yet he also fell where other hikers would wander by... maybe ALMAL will be able to recognize if that is along the shortcut he mentions.

https://people.com/human-interest/arizo ... in-canyon/

Edit: Another article clearly mentions he gets off trail when in the final stretch above the creek, so it was just the last 50 ft that got him, very likely near the shortcut route ALMAL points out:
https://www.azfamily.com/news/hiker-fal ... 0a061.html

[ShatteredArm]

When the trail leads you down close to the creek, some folks go left which is sketchy if you ask me. I have a feeling this guy fell after having hung a left.

This seems like the only possibility. There's a distinct draw that's a little crumbly getting into, but once you're in it it's just easy slickrock to the creek.

There's a trail that contours around this draw and leads to an easy cairned route directly to the creek. For my money this is the best route if you're going upstream (saves a little distance compared to heading to the right when you get to the bottom), but it's pretty easy to miss the trail around the side canyon.

I think I've taken at least four different paths down from the trail to the creek.

[big_load]

I think I've taken at least four different paths down from the trail to the creek.

Is that how you got your handle?

[ALMAL]

@ShatteredArm I usually drop down right where that little wooden structure with a tin roof is.

[wildwesthikes]

If this is what it takes to get into People magazine, I'll pass.