Hiker and dog were stuck on ‘steep and rocky’ cliff — then rescuers saw his headlamp
A hiker and his dog were rescued from where they were stranded on a cliff thanks in part to the man’s headlamp, Maryland officials said.
They were stranded on a cliff over the Shenandoah River late Sunday, April 9, Maryland State Police said in an April 10 news release.
The 27-year-old hiker had been exploring along the Loudon Heights Trail in the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park with his dog Angel, but he became lost and couldn’t get back to the main trail, the release said.
Rescuers spoke with the hiker on his cell phone and also spotted light from his headlamp on the cliffs, but they couldn’t get to his “precarious position” on “steep and treacherous terrain,” officials said.
Jefferson County rescuers then called Maryland State Police for help getting the hiker and his dog down from the cliffs. Pilots from the agency’s Aviation Command hovered 150 feet above while a skilled rescuer technician lowered into a “small and challenging opening in a heavily wooded, steep, and rocky area,” officials said.
The technician made sure the hiker didn’t need medical care, and rescuers lowered a rescue basket down to where they were perched on the cliff and lifted into the rescue helicopter.
Back at the helipad at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection training center near Harpers Ferry, officials made arrangements for a friend to pick up the hiker and his dog.
This story was originally published April 10, 2023 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Hiker and dog were stuck on ‘steep and rocky’ cliff — then rescuers saw his headlamp."
