Missing Wave hiker rescued after overnight search

KANE COUNTY — A hiker who became sepa­rated from his group while visiting The Wave was rescued after an extensive overnight search in the Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch area, according to the Kane County Sheriff’s Office.

Kane County Search and Rescue personnel search rugged terrain near The Wave and Wire Pass during an overnight operation that located a missing hiker July 6. The hiker was airlifted to medical care after being found suffering from dehydration and other injuries. Photo courtesy Kane County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue.

At approximately 3 p.m. Monday, July 6, Kane County Sheriff’s Office dispatch received a report of an overdue hiker after members of a group re­turned to the Wire Pass Trailhead without one of their companions.

Deputies and Bureau of Land Management rang­ers responded to gather information while the Kane County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team was activated.

An aerial search was initially assigned to Inter­mountain Life Flight before the Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) Aero Bureau helicopter took over search operations. Ground search teams worked through the evening and into the night, locating the missing hiker’s tracks and following them to the edge of Wire Pass slot canyon.

The DPS helicopter then searched Buckskin Gulch, where the flight crew found the missing hiker lying on slickrock roughly halfway between the confluence of Wire Pass and the Buckskin Gulch Trailhead.

According to the sheriff’s office, the man was non­verbal and drifting in and out of consciousness when rescuers reached him. He was flown by helicopter to a wait­ing ambulance at the Wire Pass Trailhead, where personnel from the Big Water Fire Department provided emergency medical care.

The hiker was then transported by Inter­mountain Life Flight to a hospital for treat­ment of dehydration and other injuries.

The sheriff’s office credited the successful rescue to the coordinat­ed efforts of the Bureau of Land Management, Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bu­reau, Intermountain Life Flight, Big Water Fire Department and Kane County Search and Rescue.

Officials said the in­cident underscores the importance of staying with your group, car­rying adequate water and preparing for the extreme conditions common in the desert around The Wave and Buckskin Gulch.