Wayward hiker plucked from ledge by first responders
A wayward hiker, who “lost the trail,” while traversing the western face of Rock Mountain in Cashiers on Nov. 4 found himself in No Man’s Land when he became trapped along the mountain’s sheer rock face about 500 feet above the valley floor.
The hiker, who declined to give his name to Glenville-Cashiers Rescue Squad officials when he was rescued, is a 52-year-old male from Knoxville, Tennessee, who came to Cashiers to get some scenic photographs.
The 911 call about a distressed hiker trapped on Rock Mountain, located just east of the High Hampton Inn, went out around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. A team of six rescue squad volunteer personnel was dispatched to the mountain, three up top and three down below, preparing to execute a “High Angle Rescue,” according to Rescue Squad Chief Jeff Stewart.
“We deployed two crews to Rock Mountain,” Stewart said. “We had a team of three posted on top of Rock Mountain.”
Stewart manned the command post and operated the drone that helped determine the hiker’s GPS location on the mountain so crews could reach him.
Stewart, along with Chip Sherrill and David Ferrin were on the ground, while Matt Chrestman, Mark Lassiter and Nat Turner approached from above.
“We are volunteers,” Stewart said. “When we get a call like this, many of us have day jobs we have to leave to come out and perform these rescues. These are an incredible group of individuals.”
These volunteers are always training, Stewart said as there is very little margin of error out on the mountain.
“Situations can turn so quickly,” he said. “Safety is our primary concern.”
The 911 dispatch call went out at 1:29 p.m. on Wednesday. Rescue Squad personnel returned to their Glenville headquarters and were unloading gear by 5 p.m., Stewart said.
Stewart said an “ascender” was used to rescue the stranded hiker.
“Once we established his location via GPS, rescue personnel were able to determine his location through a video shot from the drone.”
The drone belonged to Jackson County Emergency Management and was purchased by the county for situations just like this one.
“The drone was invaluable,” Stewart said. “We were able to use it to help determine the hiker’s location. The drone really helped out.”
Stewart positioned the drone right over the stranded hiker’s position on the rock face and was then able to radio the rescue team up at the top to relay the hiker’s position so they could climb down and pick him.
“He was just a guy out for a hike,” Stewart said.
“We had multiple layers of ropes positioned just so we can get down the mountain to get him,” said Nat Turner. “We couldn’t go directly down because of the rock down below us. We had to find a place to get down to the stranded hiker and get rope to him.”
The vertical angle of the rock face was at about 70 degrees, Stewart said.
“The dispatch header when the call went out said the hiker was stranded and could not go either up or down,” Stewart said. “We located him. We got on him. We were able to locate him and I was able to text his GPS coordinates so we knew where he was at.”
Rescue Squad member Matt Chrestman climbed down the side of the mountain to reach the stranded climber.
Chrestman asked the climber how he managed to get out here on the sheer face of the mountain.
“I asked him what happened, and he said, ‘I lost the trail… and I thought it would be easier to just walk across the cliff to get to the top,’” Chrestman said. “He was in such a place where he couldn’t go up or down. If he had tried to go in any other direction, we’d have been carrying a body out.”
Looking back over the ledge from where the hiker had the trail and then lost, left rescue workers shaking their heads as to how he managed to get in this kind of predicament.
Chrestman said when he reached the hiker, he was really humbled and apologetic. “He kept apologizing and I told him this is much better than carrying him out in a bag.”
It took about 90 minutes to get the hiker off the mountain to safety.
“He didn’t want to be with us anymore,” Chrestman said. “He was trying to hike away from us. We kept reiterating that we weren’t deputized. We were just out there to make sure he got home. He was just a very lost climber. He was not a climber. He hiked out there with a camera and he just got lost.”
Once the rescue team reached the hiker, it was down to a matter of getting him secured by harness and bringing him back up the mountain to safety.
According to Chrestman’s conversations with the hiker once he reached him on the rock face, he didn’t trust his footing and was afraid his feet were going to give out and he would fall.
“I kept telling him to just lean back and he wouldn’t do it,” he said. “He didn’t trust the rope.”
Any time GCRS members can bring someone off the mountain on their feet, was a good thing.”