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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Wednesday, January 15, 2014 INCIDENTS Bryce Canyon NP Rangers Rescue Two Lost Hikers Two Utah women lost in the park's snowy backcountry were located and rescued by rangers in a recent overnight incident. At approximately 6 p.m. on the evening of January 11th, the women called 911, stating that they had lost the trail near the Corral Hollow area. They had started at about 11 a.m. from Rainbow Point (elevation 9115 feet) in an attempt to day hike the Riggs Springs loop trail (about 8.5 miles). The area was almost entirely covered by snow up to three feet deep. They were able to follow tracks along the trail to the Corral Hollow designated backcountry campsite, arriving by about 4 p.m., but approximately 30 minutes past Corral Hollow they lost the trail. Using only the map in the park brochure, the women then decided to travel cross country, following a drainage towards the bottom of the Pink Cliffs, which they reached after several strenuous hours of HYPERLINK "http://hiking.about.com/od/Hiking-Glossary/g/What-Is-Postholing.htm" postholing through the snow. There they succeeded in finding another portion of trail, but without any tracks on it. As darkness fell the women decided to call for help, which necessitated climbing a nearby windswept ridge to attain cell phone reception, and then took shelter next to the trail, where they started a signal/warming fire. Weather conditions consisted of temperatures down to the high 20s with winds gusting to about 35 mph. Due to limited available resources, and sporadic text message communications which yielded conflicting information about their possible location and uncertainty about their ability to endure an unplanned winter night out without serious consequences, rangers contacted park dispatch at Glen Canyon NRA and requested a Classic Lifeguard helicopter (stationed in Page, Arizona) to assist in pinpointing the party's location. Classic located the women and was able to provide their approximate GPS coordinates to rangers. Rangers David Hansen and David Sutherland then snowshoed cross country to the point the women were last seen by the helicopter and located the two women nearby by using emergency whistles. Both individuals were in good health and after refueling with food and fluids all parties were able to hike out to Rainbow Point, arriving just after 4 a.m. on January 12th. The women said that they had overestimated their expected speed and endurance in the difficult conditions and thought the trail would be easier to follow. Rangers credit the incident's positive outcome to their good physical condition, their foresight in bringing warm clothes, HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bivouac_sack" bivy sacks and a fire starter, and their good judgment in calling for help and then staying put. They were counseled on poor equipment choices (leaving snowshoes in their car and not carrying a topo map, compass or GPS), and their decision to continue on after realizing they had lost the trail, rather than retracing their own tracks. Ranger Tyla Guss was the incident commander. [David Hansen and Tyla Guss, Park Rangers] Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP Two Plead Guilty To Using Metal Detectors In Park On December 2nd, rangers received a report of two men with metal detectors digging for artifacts on the Chancellorsville Battlefield. Rangers Matt Roland and Craig Johnson responded and met with the reporting party and began interviews. They located four fresh dig holes that had been refilled both inside the boundary of the park and within an easement administered by the National Park Service. Roland interviewed local homeowners living adjacent to the park and quickly identified two extended family members of a nearby resident as suspects. He contacted the two men and setup meetings with them at the dig site. Both men confessed to using metal detectors and digging for artifacts inside the park. A piece of Civil War era canister shot was recovered from one of them. On January 7th, both men pled guilty as part of a plea agreement in federal court to possession of metal detectors within a national park. Each received a $100 fine and must forfeit his metal detector - one valued at $1000 and the other valued at $700. [Keith Kelly, Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's InsideNPS. To see the full text, 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 Morning Report web page ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/): National Capital Region - On January 5th, Fort Washington Park rangers and volunteers rang in the new year and a year of programs with a Civil War-style ball in the enlisted men's quarters of the historic fort. White Sands NM - On December 6th, White Sands hosted its sixth annual holiday open house. More than 300 community members attended the event, which featured 500 luminaria around the visitor center complex. Denver Service Center - After almost 35 years of government service, Audrey Winters has announced that she will retire on January 24th. Audrey is a contract specialist in DSC's Contracting Services Division. Joshua Tree NP - Dr. Henry E. [Hank] McCutchen, 76, passed away on January 3rd after a brief battle with cancer. Hank retired from Joshua Tree National Park in 2004 with nearly 40 years of service. * * * * The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov). --- ### --- |