A Belgian tourist became stranded in Death Valley's Mosaic Canyon after separating from his hiking partner and mistakenly climbing into an off-trail gully. Lacking proper gear, he called for help using a satellite feature on his phone. Park rangers and a Navy helicopter arrived, but due to dangerous conditions, rangers opted for a climbing rescue instead of using the helicopter. After equipping him with safety gear, they were able to lower him down safely. Incidents like this occur about four to five times annually in the park, often due to exploration off maintained trails.
"He went up something he couldn't climb back down again," park spokesperson Abby Wines told SFGATE. "Rangers that went to rescue him didn't want to climb back down it either."
Using climbing equipment to scale the canyon, rangers made contact with the man 40 minutes after sunset. Rescue teams decided it was too dangerous to try using the helicopter to retrieve him.
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