Rocky Mountain National Park staff make overnight rescue on injured hiker

A rescue operation for an injured 45-year-old hiker at Rocky Mountain National Park started on Monday afternoon and ended at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday.

It was late afternoon when park staff got the call that a man had hurt his leg around 1,000 feet above Lake Haiyaha.

According to officials, he was scrambling on rocks, fell in a deep hole and got his leg pinned by a boulder. The two other people he was hiking with were able to move the boulder, but his injuries were too severe for him to walk.

Two park rangers, including a paramedic, stayed with the man overnight. Early Tuesday morning, members of Rocky Mountain National Park’s Search and Rescue team were able to get the man and put him on an inflatable raft to get across Lake Haiyaha.

The hiker reached the trailhead at 3:30 p.m.and was taken by ambulance to Estes Park Medical Center.

Rocky Mountain National Park’s Search and Rescue team members were assisted by Larimer County Search and Rescue and Rocky Mountain Rescue members. Thirty personnel were in the field for this rescue operation.