NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, June 20, 2011

INCIDENTS

Rocky Mountain NP

Badly Injured Bicyclist Flown From Trail Ridge Road

A 30-year-old Toronto man was bicycling on Trail Ridge Road last Thursday when he was blown over by a heavy wind gust and suffered numerous traumatic injuries. He was about a quarter mile east of Lava Cliffs when knocked over by thunderstorm winds that exceeded 45 mph and sustained serious pelvis and head injuries, even though wearing a helmet. He and his companion were both suffering from hypothermia as well when rangers got to the scene. The injured cyclist was taken by an Estes Park Medical Center ambulance to the Alpine Visitor Center, where an air ambulance from St. Anthony Hospital was participating in a training exercise with park staff. He was flown to that hospital for treatment. [Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer]

Yosemite NP

Search In Progress For Missing Hiker

A search is currently underway for G.P., 30, of Hawthorne, California, who was last seen hiking on Upper Yosemite Fall Trail last Friday with a group of people from his church. Around 9 p.m. that evening, a member of the group called park dispatch and reported that G.P. was missing. The park is asking that anyone who was in the area of the Upper Yosemite Fall Trail with possible information on G.P. call the search command post at 209-372-0311 or 209-372-0252. G.P. is 5' 10” tall, weighs 240 pounds, and has dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a stocky build. He was last seen wearing gray sweatpants with white stripes, a black t-shirt that says “D&B” across the chest or a black tank top, and gray/blue running shoes. He was carrying a blue cloth bag and had very little food and water. Supporting park staff in the search have been personnel from Mariposa, Mono, Fresno and Marin Counties. [Kari Cobb, Public Affairs Officer]

Grand Canyon NP

Overdue Hiker Found On North Rim

Late on the evening of Wednesday, June 15th, rangers received notification that 64-year old B.D. of Fredonia, Arizona, had not returned from a backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. The reporting party, a friend of B.D.'s, said that he had been expected back no later than Tuesday. B.D. had provided his friends with a detailed itinerary of his planned hiking route, which helped the agencies focus their search on the Sowats Point/Fishtail Mesa/Indian Hollow area, about 30 miles northwest of the North Rim developed area. B.D. had planned to enter the park at Indian Hollow, then find a route down to Hualapai Spring, cross to Kwagunt, and come back up and exit near Sowats Point at the Jumpup-Naile trailhead. On Thursday morning, once Coconino County Sheriff's Officers located B.D.'s car and confirmed that he had not yet left the area, the park helicopter flew two search patterns over his planned route with no success. On Thursday night, a DPS helicopter equipped with FLIR (forward looking infrared) technology, which detects variations in heat signature, also flew B.D.'s planned route with no success. On Friday, search operations expanded, adding teams to ground search the area between Fishtail Mesa and Indian Hollow. Late on Friday afternoon, a Forest Service officer on routine patrol found B.D. at the junction of two roads that were significantly north and east of his planned exit point. According to B.D., he had hiked his planned itinerary and stayed at Kwagunt on Monday night. On Tuesday, though, he was unable to locate the route up to Sowats Point, a route he had never hiked before. After spending a second night at Kwagunt, B.D. decided to hike out via Jumpup Canyon, a route he had traveled before, camping at Mountain Sheep Springs on Wednesday night and at a cabin near the top of Jumpup Canyon on Thursday night. B.D. was reported as being tired and unable to eat much, but otherwise in good condition and high spirits. The National Park Service credits B.D. with making sure friends knew when to expect him out of the backcountry, providing them with a detailed description of his planned route, and carrying extra food and supplies in case he was in the backcountry longer than expected. In addition, he did not panic when he could not find his route. Instead, he stayed near water and familiar terrain as he searched for his route and contemplated his options. [Shannan Marcak, Public Affairs Officer]

Midwest Region

Rising Missouri River Causes Issues At Regional Office

The waters of the Missouri River remain high, impacting National Park Service areas along its length, including Midwest Regional Office. While the regional office has not been flooded, there have nonetheless been impacts on the office. The city of Omaha's storm water system drains into the river nearby and has had to be blocked to prevent water flowing back into the city. In order to drain storm water, pumps, pipes and a large culvert are being set up adjacent to and through the regional office parking lot. Employee parking has been relocated and the office remains open, but it is less convenient for employees and visitors to access. Anyone planning to travel to the regional office, including the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail office, should contact the office before traveling to obtain the latest information and directions. [Jean Schaeppi-Anderson, Incident Information Officer]

Upper Delaware S&RR

Fisherman's Body Found Floating In Delaware River

Two brothers, one 56 and the other 60, came to the Delaware River to go fishing on the evening of June 13th. The 56-year-old left his older brother along the shoreline at an area known as Knights Farm and went to fish another section of the river. When he returned about an hour and a half later, he was unable to find his brother. He searched for him for about two hours before driving to the town of Hancock and alerting authorities. The New York State Police responded along with the Hancock and Equinunk VFD's and began hasty searches along and on the river. Firefighters found the missing brother floating face down in the water about a mile downriver from the point last seen around 1 a.m. the next morning. [Joe Hinkes, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Tuzigoot NM - The refurbished historic Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center and Museum was reopened to visitors on June 3rd. Photo.

Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the NPS. Included in this week's summary are reports on three hearings held last week, the agendas for three hearing set for this week, and three new bills of interest to the NPS.

Independence NHP - Jean-Michel Marra, chief of maintenance and general engineer with Independence NHP and its associated sites, is retiring after 34 years of federal and military service. Photo.

* * * *

Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of Communications and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

--- ### ---