SLCo Sheriff's SAR team rescues teenage hikers stranded by rushing creek

SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, June 10, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Two hikers planning to take the Red Pine Trail to climb Pfeifferhorn Peak on Friday found themselves stranded on the wrong side of the rushing waters of Little Cottonwood Creek.

So at 9:40 p.m., when the sun had disappeared, they called the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team.

“Saturday evening we were called to assist two hikers stranded on the wrong side of Little Cottonwood Creek near Tanners Flat,” a SAR message from SLCo states.

“The two 18-year-old men had intended to climb the Pfeifferhorn via the Red Pine Trail earlier today. We don't know exactly where they are, but we do know that they encountered difficulty with the terrain and decided to return via Maybird. A descent from Maybird involves additional terrain and navigation issues, including two impassable obstacles: Red Pine and Little Cottonwood Creek.

The SAR team considered two options: helicopter rescue or going back up the mountain to the trail.

“Both options were ruled out for various reasons. It was determined that the best option was to build a rope system, send rescuers across the creek to the patients, then return to the nearest (road) side.

The systems were built above the runoff-swollen creek and worked as designed, “and soon all were back on the north side of the creek where worried families, good food and a warm bed awaited them.”

“Neither the patient nor the rescuers got wet crossing the stream. The rescuers left the mountain and returned home before 2 a.m.