83-year-old man who went missing near Grand Canyon rescued after overnight search

[Right_in_Virginia]

83-year-old man who went missing near Grand Canyon rescued after overnight search
CBS News, Jul 25, 2026

An 83-year-old man who failed to return from a hike inside the Grand Canyon National Park was safely rescued after an all-night search, Arizona officials said on social media Saturday.

The man, identified by the National Park Service as Gerald Guinn, of Utah, was hiking with another person at 12:30 p.m. on July 21, the Kane County Sheriff's Office said. The two were hiking in a "remote location" on the edge of the Kaibab National Forest. They split up to search for a nearby historic object, but Guinn never reunited with the other hiker.

The other hiker searched for several hours, then requested help. The sheriff's office Search and Rescue team conducted an overnight search, using drones and search dogs, to no avail.

The next morning, the Grand Canyon National Park Service took over the search efforts, according to the sheriff's office, adding a helicopter and ground teams to the search. The Kane County search and rescue team rejoined the search that afternoon.

In the early afternoon, the NPS received a cell phone ping indicating Guinn's general location. The ping moved the search to the east. An NPS helicopter located Guinn, who was well enough to wave to the pilot.

The helicopter could not land in the area due to the terrain, so a Kane County search and rescue team was sent to assess and stabilize Guinn. The team found him to be "in good spirits, just cold, and non-ambulatory." The rescue team provided liquids and warm layers.


More:  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/grand-canyon-kaibab-forest-missing-hiker-rescued-kane-county/

[Right_in_Virginia]

Here's ⬆️ a wow! feel good story   😀

[Right_in_Virginia]

An 83 year old survivor with teeth AND a good head of hair!  Bet he never rejected good old fashioned toxic masculinity   

[DCPatriot]

Good stuff, @Right_in_Virginia   

[Cyber Liberty]

Interesting story from my neck of the woods.  That part of the Canyon is at a higher altitude than South Rim, which is where the tourists mostly go....

[Wingnut]

non-ambulatory.

That can be a problem!  lol

[Cyber Liberty]

non-ambulatory.

That can be a problem!  lol

He owes his life to his cell phone.

[Smokin Joe]

He owes his life to his cell phone.

Short of being able to make a fire, that's a winner (Good battery or he shut it off, and operated it long enough to determine he had no signal and turned it off again. Phones commonly exhaust their power supply rapidly searching for a tower).

A fire would have provided warmth, smoke, and a bright spot (visual or IR) if they were looking in the dark.

[Wingnut]

He owes his life to his cell phone.

If he had only used its flashlight mode to read a trail map!

[Cyber Liberty]

Short of being able to make a fire, that's a winner (Good battery or he shut it off, and operated it long enough to determine he had no signal and turned it off again. Phones commonly exhaust their power supply rapidly searching for a tower).

A fire would have provided warmth, smoke, and a bright spot (visual or IR) if they were looking in the dark.

The problem is that can start a forest fire!  The largest forest fire in Arizona was the Rodeo-Chediski fire, and it started when a lost hiker started a signal fire.

[Smokin Joe]

The problem is that can start a forest fire!  The largest forest fire in Arizona was the Rodeo-Chediski fire, and it started when a lost hiker started a signal fire.

Back when there were boy scouts, we were taught to clear any organic material from the fire pit, to surround it with rocks, and to keep it small to avoid sending sprays of sparks out into the woods. It isn't what you do, but how you do it. That said, some resinous fuels will poot out sparks like crazy. Having a pile of sand or small gravel to put it out might be a good idea.

It takes some bush sense to do it right, and granted, sometimes it can't be.

[Cyber Liberty]

Back when there were boy scouts, we were taught to clear any organic material from the fire pit, to surround it with rocks, and to keep it small to avoid sending sprays of sparks out into the woods. It isn't what you do, but how you do it. That said, some resinous fuels will poot out sparks like crazy. Having a pile of sand or small gravel to put it out might be a good idea.

It takes some bush sense to do it right, and granted, sometimes it can't be.

The fire I referred to was in a huge stand of pine trees, chock full of Creosote.  Not familiar with how the lady set up her signal fire....