Here’s how to avoid needing to be rescued while hiking
Tourists and locals alike are flocking to mountain hiking trails in the Phoenix area, but unprepared hikers increase their chances of injuring themselves, falling ill or becoming stranded if they don’t take proper precautions, hiking experts and fire officials say.
The Phoenix Fire Department estimates it responds to about 200 mountain rescues each year on trails that wind through the city’s mountain parks, including Camelback Mountain, Papago Park, Piestewa Peak and South Mountain.
And those calls tend to increase around this time of year, the height of the winter-visitor season.
“We typically have a uptick in our mountain rescues when the weather warms up each year,” said Phoenix fire Capt. Jake Van Hook recently.
Types of rescues
In Phoenix, fire officials already have responded to a host of mountain rescue calls in recent weeks, many of them on popular trails along Camelback Mountain.
Most involve people who sustain a minor injury and are having trouble getting down, but more serious calls have come in as well. Some of the most-involved rescues result from people straying from a marked trail and becoming stuck in an area unable to get back down. Such incidents typically require the department’s technical rescue team or a helicopter.
Among calls:
» On March 10, two hikers from out of state were rescued from Camelback Mountain. The hikers strayed from the main Echo Canyon Trail into a position where they feared falling from an elevated area, fire officials said. Rescue teams performed a high-angle rescue to get them down.
» On March 6, the department responded to three incidents in different hiking areas: Camelback Mountain, Papago Park and South Mountain Park. In the Papago Park incident, a woman became “stuck” and unable to get down after veering from a trail. In the other two cases, hikers suffered minor injuries and needed help getting down.
» On March 5, fire officials responded to two incidents on Camelback Mountain. One involved a 24-year-old hiker who became stuck in an area and could not get down. It took firefighters and technical rescue teams about seven hours to get him down. The other incident involved a woman who suffered distress on the trail, officials said.
Camelback Mountain is among the busiest for hikers during winter visitor season, in part because of its central location and proximity to many hotels and other tourist attractions. From a distance, it may not seem too imposing, but once hikers ascend its trails, they can quickly find out otherwise. As a result, it’s among the places firefighters will frequently respond.
Phoenix fire officials did not respond to a request from The Republic for exact numbers of rescues they have responded to at various locations, including Camelback. Only annual overall estimates were available. the recent
Know your abilities
Mountain rescue calls might involve crews trekking up the mountains to help injured or dehydrated hikers who end up walking down with help. Other times, fire officials use a “big wheel” unit to wheel down an injured hiker. More extreme measures sometimes are needed, such as calling a helicopter to lift people off the mountains in a basket. At times, technical rescue teams must rappel to an area to reach a stranded hiker.
Given such possibilities, hikers are advised to prepare themselves before a hike.
Whether a visitor or local, a novice or experienced, hikers who head for mountain trails around the Valley need to have a realistic assessment of their physical abilities, experts say. Water — even when the weather doesn’t seem hot — is a must, as is a willingness to stick to marked trails and resist the temptation to veer off the beaten path to rocky areas that might be difficult to get back from or cause injuries.
Liz Cook, an avid hiker who had just finished her third hike along Camelback Mountain in as many days, told The Republic it is not just about being in the best shape, but knowing that each day a person’s body will react differently.
“What’s really important to think about is that it’s dynamic. I would say there is a different ability you have each time,” she said, chugging water from her hydrating hiking pack. “One day you might be able to hike Camelback easy, but the next you could struggle with South Mountain. It’s never the same.”
Eric Kinneman, organizer and founder of Phoenix-based TLC Hiking Group, has been leading hikes throughout Arizona since 2011. Each hike presents different challenges.
“Hiking is subjective work, and people may take it too lightly. Just because they did a mile the week before in no altitude doesn’t mean they can do a 4-miler, or even more, with more difficult terrain right away,” he said.
Certain hikes, like Camelback’s Echo Canyon Trail, hold esteem for being longer and more difficult than others in Phoenix, with expansive views of the metropolitan area. But that does not mean they are for everyone.
Gregg Bach, a spokesman for Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, said there are plenty of great trails around the city that are not nearly as difficult but can provide an exhilarating hike, even for those who are inexperienced hikers.
“Hiking on a trail that matches one’s fitness and ability level is often something that people miscalculate,” he said. “There is a variety of multiuse trails throughout the city that match any ability level.”
Many hiking groups have a vetting process to assess hikers’ ability if they do not know their own skill.
Kinneman said when he takes new people on hikes, he will first ask them the most difficult hikes they have finished, as well as the toughest conditions they have hiked under, such as extreme heat. His group’s Facebook page makes clear its hikes are not intended for beginners.
As spring approaches, temperatures can quickly approach 90 degrees. The dry heat may seem comfortable enough if leisurely walking about, but once on a hike it can become serious.