The Carbon County Search and Rescue team stepped in to save the day for a mushroom forager hurt and stranded in a rugged and remote area of the Medicine Bow National Forest.
The man, who is in his 70s, and his wife had hiked into a far-flung spot in the Sheep Creek area north of the Platte Wilderness on Monday, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken told Cowboy state Daily on Wednesday.
The man was in excellent shape, but he fell and suffered a devastating ankle injury that rendered him immobile, leaving him in severe danger, said Bakken, who declined to release the man’s name.
The man’s wife left him and hiked 3 miles before finally finding somebody traveling on a U.S. Forest Service road who had cell service to summon help, Bakken said.
Call Out The Chopper
The remoteness of the location made a ground rescue operation impractical, he said.
“Just for the searchers to get there in a side-by-side, they had to use a chainsaw to cut through fallen timber on Forest Service spur road,” he said.
That’s why a helicopter was called in to get the injured man out.
“Our fantastic team of search and rescue volunteers and our partners at Intermountain Air Ambulance (formerly Classic Air,) stepped up to the challenge as always and responded to the scene,” according to Carbon County Sheriff’s Office statement.
“After the injured party was located, medical personnel from Intermountain and SCWEMS (South Central Wyoming Emergency Services) stabilized the patient and manually transported him over 600 yards out of the ravine to a waiting rescue vehicle, which then transported the subject to a waiting helicopter,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Hypothermia, Exposure, A Real Risk
With blazing hot summer temperatures across much of Wyoming, it can be easy for people to take for granted how far nighttime temperatures can plunge at high altitudes, such as where the man had been stranded, Bakken said.
“Exposure is always really big concern,” he said.
Even during the summer, hypothermia can be a concern high in the mountains, so Bakken said he’s thankful that rescuers reached the man so quickly.
Busy Summer
The Carbon County Search and Rescue team has been called out on several rescues this summer.
Bakken said rescuers have been busy as more people have been getting outside this summer, going deep into the forests and mountains.
One dramatic operation took place in June, and Bakken was directly involved. He and others rescued three teens who got lost and ended up stranded on Medicine Bow Peak — the highest mountain in the Snowy Range.
Thankful For Volunteers
Before being elected sheriff, Bakken was a member of Carbon County Search and Rescue.
Like other teams across Wyoming, it’s made up entirely of volunteers.
Donations and outdoor recreation fees fund search and rescue teams in Wyoming, but that money all goes to fuel, equipment and the like, Bakken said. Team members aren’t paid a dime.
“I really want to stress how thankful I am for our search and rescue volunteers,” Bakken said.
The stranded mushroom hunters and many others like him would likely not have had happy endings to their ordeals if volunteers hadn’t stepped up, Bakken said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
