Rescue Of Injured Hikers

On the evening of July 29th, a ranger was contacted by members of a hiking group who reported that a 40-year-old man and a 13-year-old girl had been struck by falling rocks on the Grinnell Glacier Trail. The reporting party said that the girl had been struck in the head with a rock weighing about 20 pounds and had been severely injured. The man suffered an injury to his leg and was unable to walk. Park search and rescue personnel responded, as did an EMS helicopter from Kalispell Regional Medical Center. Park personnel provided emergency medical care and loaded the patients on the EMS helicopter for transport to Kalispell Regional Medical Center. An interagency contract helicopter assigned to the Skyland Fire was used to backhaul rescue and medical equipment from the scene. A herd of bighorn sheep were seen above the trail prior to the rock fall.