Every year there are numerous rescues of hikers stranded, fallen, or otherwise in over their heads on the two most traveled and most popular Phoenix peaks: Piestewa & Camelback (more than 400,000 visit these two recreation areas each year). But just because these are city hikes does not mean you can be lax in your preparations. I found stats that say across six mountains in Phoenix there were 135 rescues in 2008. That's less than 1% of hikers, but still worth taking notice so that you can be the most informed and prepared and stay out of those tallies.
Here's some of what I found about rescues in 2010:
January 2010, Camelback & Piestewa: Four hikers rescued, 1 on Piestewa and 3 on Camelback. Three had ankle injuries. One of the rescued, a 48-year-old man, broke his ankle 40 yards from the summit of Camelback and had to be helicoptered out.
January 2010, Camelback: 26-year-old rock climber fell 25 feet off Praying Monk while free climbing and suffered serious fractures to both legs.
April 2010, Camelback: 62-year-old man fell 20 feet into boulders causing head and back injuries. The 96-degree, near-record heat led a firefighter assisting in the rescue to become dehydrated and need assistance himself.
May 2010, Piestewa: 42-year-old woman from out of town became fatigued and over-heated about a quarter mile up the trail.
June 2010, Camelback: 51-year-old hiker injured knee while being attacked by bees on Cholla side of mountain
July 2010, Camelback: two women, ages 53 and 73, visiting from Wisconsin were overcome by heat early in the day on Cholla Trail.
July 2010, Piestewa: 16-year-old female hiker slipped and sprained her ankle. Temperatures reached 112 degrees, excessive heat warning was in effect.
July 2010, Camelback: 39-year-old women, husband and friend rescued after running out of water on Echo Canyon trail. During this rescue, crews ran into a family of five from Missouri who also ran out of water, causing heat related issues -- a 13-year-old boy suffered cramps and was helicoptered down while his sister vomited all the way down the mountain. The boy was in serious condition, unresponsive to hydration IVs and not perspiring in the triple digit heat.
September 2010, Piestewa: Rescue of a suicidal person with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the mountain
September 2010, Camelback: 55-year-old hurt his knee at the top and had to be air-lifted off the mountain
October 2010, Piestewa: 11-year-old girl had a severe asthma attack near the top of the mountain and could not get down
October 2010, Camelback: 43-year-old woman broke ankle halfway up Echo Canyon Trail and had to be helicoptered out in windy conditions
November 2010, Camelback: adult male body found by hiker, suspected suicide.
November 2010, Camelback: two out-of-state climbers attacked by bees while rock climbing Hart Route. See earlier blog for more on this: Camelback: Rock Climbers & Killer Bees Don't Mix
December 2010, Piestewa: 52-year-old man fell three-quarters of the way up the trail, cutting his head and suffering neck and back pain. The trail was wet and slippery after a series of storms hit the valley.
Firefighters and rescue crews regularly are called to help stranded hikers, many of which are stranded in the summer months when the heat quickly overwhelms a typical person. One firefighter was quoted by KTAR.com in September of this year: "I think when people get started, they forget that it's an hour to an hour and a-half hike for most people. They start out when it's somewhat mild and think they're going to come down without much water... Now, just on my daily hikes, I tend to give my water away almost every hike to somebody needing help."
For more information about these hikes see my other posts:
Camelback posts
Piestewa post
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