2 injured hikers rescued from remote Arizona desert in separate incidents
Federal agents and local officials rescued two different hikers who were stranded in remote parts of the Arizona desert over the weekend, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said. Each of the hikers had suffered injuries.
In the first incident, Border Patrol agents based in Tucson used a helicopter to locate and retrieve a hiker from a rough area near the Superstition Mountains that was too difficult to land in. The hiker's ankle may have been broken, and the person could not walk, according to the agency. Working with the local sheriff's office, a member of that search and rescue crew was lowered to the ground on the helicopter's hoist and used that to lift the hiker back up. The hiker was flown to safety and evaluated, Border Patrol said.
Located roughly 50 miles east of Phoenix, the Superstition Mountains are spread over an isolated desert wilderness. The U.S. Forest Service notes that a well-developed network of trails is built into the area but warns that "trail conditions vary from fair to very poor," and the rugged terrain "can be inhospitable to those not equipped to meet nature on her own terms."
The second incident, on Sunday, involved another injured hiker who by then had been lost for two days in a southern section of the Arizona Trail near Sonoita, not far from Mexico. A Border Patrol air crew located the hiker in a helicopter, but the agency said they could not land because of the harsh and foliage-dense topography. Agents were ultimately able to reach the hiker during a ground search, and he was taken to the Sonoita-Elgin Fire Department for medical treatment.
The Arizona Trail runs for about 800 miles through the entire state of Arizona, touching the U.S.-Mexico border at one end and Utah at the other. According to the Forest Service, the trail includes some easily accessible passages and others in "remote and challenging wilderness."
Sean McGoffin, chief patrol agent of Border Patrol's Tucson sector, praised the crews involved in both successful rescue missions.
"I am incredibly proud of our agents' swift and professional response to these incidents," McGoffin said in a statement. "These rescues are a testament to their training, teamwork and unwavering commitment to public safety. Our agents and teams continuously demonstrate their dedication to saving people's lives."
Incidents over the weekend followed multiple search and rescue operations on Arizona trails last week. The National Park Service branch in Lake Mead, located in far northwestern Arizona near the Nevada border, temporarily closed two trails in that area Friday as extreme heat led to at least one hiker's death. Around the same time, rangers were managing what the park service called "a large-scale rescue" involving a hiking group that included three adults and 25 children. The group had set out on a trail to Arizona Hot Springs, described as strenuous and steep by the park service and one of the two hiking routes eventually closed on Friday.
"This incident underscores the severity of the current conditions and the significant strain these emergencies place on park resources," said park service officials in Lake Mead, announcing the trail closures on social media.
