Authorities responded to a personal locator beacon at Box Death Hollow near Escalante in Garfield County last week.
SALT LAKE CITY – The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office says it rescued four women who were stuck in a slot canyon while they were out hiking last week.
Spokeswoman for the department, Denise Dastrup, says a personal locator beacon may have saved the lives of the women. She says because of the device the group was easy to find, but it still took some work to get them out.
“Those beacons are wonderful because they do give you the coordinates,” Dastrup said. “But you got to remember a slot canyon is pretty deep and there are issues trying to get to the individual.”
The group was found in a Box Death Hollow slot canyon near Escalante. Authorities say the women were experienced hikers, but Dastrup said they were not expecting the deep waters they encountered, which required swimming in some areas. The hikers had become dehydrated and hypothermic as well.
Dastrup says the department has been on a lot of rescues so far and the weather has not been helping the situation.
“When you go into a slot, those waters come up quickly,” said Dastrup. “It surprised these people that got lost. They did not realize they would be swimming and everything else in this canyon.”
Dastrup said the women were a bit frightened but unharm. She also says the woman who had the beacon, had decided to buy it just before the trip.
