By
Alexis Bechman
Payson Roundup
June 3, 2011
With Memorial Day weekend kicking off the summer, an
influx of visitors convened on the Rim Country,
bombarding lakes, campgrounds and forests for
recreation.
If last weekend is any indication, it is going to be
a busy summer for law enforcement officers, firefighters
and search and rescue volunteers. In northern Gila
County, emergency officials rescued two people, one for
a broken ankle and another lost in the woods.
On Friday, a woman hiking alone near the Barnhardt
Trail became disoriented when the trail washed out.
The woman was reportedly hiking the Rock Creek Trail,
roughly 10 miles south of Payson in between the
Barnhardt and North Peak Trails, when she passed through
a wash. After hiking beyond the wash, the woman turned
around, but could not locate the trail she had come in
on. After wandering around awhile, she called for help
on her cell phone and volunteers with the Tonto Rim
Search and Rescue (TRSAR) hiked in and found her
uninjured about a mile from the trailhead.
On Sunday, a 23-year-old Valley man was not so lucky.
While climbing up rocks near a Fossil Creek waterfall
just after noon, the man slipped and fell, breaking his
ankle.
The man was roughly a mile north of the lower
trailhead and unable to hike back for help. Arizona Game
and Fish personnel located the man among the hundreds of
people who were visiting the creek and six firefighters
with Pine-Strawberry hiked in to treat him until TRSAR
could carry him out, said David Staub, P-S fire chief.
Half a dozen TRSAR volunteers carried the man out on
a litter. TRSAR Commander Bill Pitterle said he had to
turn some volunteers away because there wasn’t enough
parking in the crowded recreation site known for its
crystal clear water and numerous waterfalls.
Historically, holiday weekends attract large numbers
of people to northern Arizona forests and campgrounds
for outdoor recreational activities, including off-road
activities.
This holiday was no exception. Over the weekend, the
Coconino County Sheriff’s Office conducted 201 traffic
stops, 42 of which were with off-highway vehicle (OHV)
operators.
Throughout Coconino County, search and rescue
responded to eight calls, including those for overdue
hikers, an overdue ATV rider, a fall injury at Mooney
Falls in the Grand Canyon and another fall injury south
of Page. All of these calls ended with successful
rescues.
Man drowns trying to help others
A 40-year-old Surprise man drowned Sunday morning
when his canoe overturned in a popular Mogollon Rim
lake.
Saul Olivarez was reportedly attempting to help two
people after their canoe upturned when his canoe
overturned in Willow Springs Lake, the second most
visited lake on the Mogollon Rim, after Woods Canyon.
The two people made it out of the lake safely, but
Olivarez went missing, said a Gila County Sheriff’s
Office spokesperson in a release. A deputy from the
Forest Lakes area and the Forest Lakes Fire Department
searched the 150-acre lake for Olivarez, but could not
locate him.
Using dive equipment, the Coconino County Sheriff’s
Office and National Park Service Glen Canyon dive rescue
teams searched the lake throughout the evening, but with
no luck. The search was suspended overnight and resumed
Monday morning. At 4 p.m., searchers located Olivarez’s
body.
