At 6:30 on Saturday, August 21st, the Summit County Rescue
Group received an all call page to respond to the Meadow Creek
trailhead for an injured hiker.
Three men, two from the Denver area and one from Frisco, were
camping near Eccles Pass. They had set up hammocks in the
trees in a triangular formation, with two of the hammocks anchored
to the same tree. While two of the three men were in their
hammocks, the shared tree fell over onto one man pinning him under
the tree. The second man fell to the ground and was
momentarily stunned. The third man was able to move the tree
off of his pinned friend. They then contacted emergency
dispatch and requested help for their injured friend.
The Summit County Rescue Group sent an
initial response team of three, consisting of a
wilderness paramedic and two rescuers. After evaluating the
patient, Flight for Life was contacted and Life Guard 2 was
launched to evacuate the injured man. The helicopter was able
to land in a meadow about 100 yards from the
campsite. The patient was airlifted to St. Anthony's Medical
Center in Frisco.
SCRG advises backcountry travellers to be attentive
to the beetle-kill tree hazard in the forests.
According to Dan Moroz with Lake Dillon Fire Rescue, over 90,000
trees per day fall in Colorado due to the extensive damage caused
to the forest by the pine beetle infestation. One should
especially be cautious on windy days.