A Utah hiker in Arches National Park was rescued after becoming stuck in quicksand, a scene most people associate with old films and movies. The individual, who was not injured, remained trapped for several chilly hours with his legs buried up to the thighs in a canyon wash on Sunday morning, according to rescuers.
Even though quicksand incidents in that same area have occurred before—about two miles away in 2014—Sunday’s distress call around 7:15 a.m. still took responders by surprise, said Grand County Search and Rescue incident commander John Marshall. He recalled his initial reaction: “Did I hear that correctly? Somebody is stuck in quicksand?”
Rescuers reached the hiker using a ladder and traction boards placed on the ground to distribute weight and keep the team from sinking themselves. The boards enabled safe access close to the victim while they worked.
Quicksand can ensnare people rapidly, though the body’s buoyancy often prevents complete sinking beyond the hips. “It has a biting nature—the more someone struggles, the deeper they go,” Marshall explained, noting that even a few steps into the sand can trigger the initial “stuck” effect.
A drone helped locate the hiker as rescuers prepared for the extraction. The operation occurred in frigid air, with temperatures around 21 degrees, as rescue technician Jake Blackwelder described the cold, sunless canyon area.
Blackwelder spoke with the hiker from a nearby cliff, and a small team made a careful descent to reach the man, who was caught in a dry riverbed channel known as a wash. Using traction boards and backboards, the rescuers distributed their weight to avoid also becoming stuck and assisted in digging him free.
During the exchange, responders asked the hiker how he was faring. He admitted fatigue but was eager to be freed. He described himself as an experienced hiker who had traversed trails across Utah and other states, indicating this wasn’t a novice mistake, just an unfortunate encounter with unexpectedly wet sand.
A similar Utah incident occurred in Zion National Park in 2019, when a hiker remained trapped in quicksand for a day before rescue teams reached him and evacuated him by air, amid snowy conditions. That case involved the hiker’s knee-level immersion, and the partner with him hiked three hours to obtain a cell signal for help.
— Morgan Chesky, NBC News
— Phil Helsel contributed
