Crews rescue stranded hikers in Provo, Little Cottonwood canyons

LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON — Search and rescue teams were called out Monday to assist both an injured woman hiking alone in Little Cottonwood Canyon and a group of stranded college students in Provo Canyon.

A 46-year-old woman used her cell phone around 11:15 a.m. to call and ask for help getting out of Little Cottonwood Canyon after she apparently left the marked trails, Unified Police Sgt. Corey Latham said. She was headed toward Mount Superior and was near Hellgate Ridge when she made the call.

"She twisted her ankle a little bit and got herself into a position where she can't go up or down," he said. "She's stuck. I don't know how she got there."

A search and rescue team used all-terrain vehicles to get halfway to where the woman was and reached her by hiking and climbing the rest of the way. By 3 p.m., they had reached her and were trying to figure out the best way to get the woman off of the mountain.

In Provo Canyon, a group of six hikers called for help around noon when their hike from Rock Canyon Park east toward Squaw Peak Road led them to a cliff area where "they couldn't get themselves out safely," said Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon.

Search and rescue crews were able to get five of the six out quickly.

"Another male was perched higher up in a more precarious place," Cannon said. "It required some technical maneuvers, but they were able to walk him out without causing more problems."

Cannon said all six hikers eventually walked themselves off the mountain. Two of the female hikers sustained minor head injuries caused by falling rocks in the area, but none of the hikers required medical care. Two separate helicopters were called to the area, but neither was used in the course of the rescue.

The hikers were believed to be a group of college students, but their names and ages were not released.

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