Injured Man Extricated From Behunin Canyon

Late on the afternoon of May 31st, rangers received several reports from hikers on the Emerald Pools trail saying that people were yelling for help from a canyon above them. At about the same time, the International Emergency Response Center notified the park that they’d received a ‘rescue alert’ from a SPOT satellite personal tracker from deep in a slot canyon. This signal confirmed that the accident was in Behunin Canyon, rather than Heaps Canyon. A short-haul ready helicopter from the Grand Canyon was called; upon arrival, the pilot picked up ranger Keith Winslow and ranger/paramedic Andrew Fitzgerald and flew them to a point above the canyon where they could rappel to the victim – Lee Harrison, 37, of San Pedro, California – with medical supplies and overnight gear. The rangers had to provide food and warm clothing to a total of seven people because neither Harrison’s party nor the party providing assistance to him had brought adequate gear for an overnight or extended stay. Rangers reached Harrison just before midnight, then treated and spent the night with him. The next morning, rangers rigged a highline to get Harrison across a pool prior to the last two rappels out, then piggybacked and scooted him across other obstacles. Harrison was able to control his own descent on the last two rappels with fireman’s belays from below. Once out of the canyon, he was short-hauled to the canyon floor, then taken to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George. Kevin Killian was the initial IC, Ray O’Neil was the operations chief.