ZION NATIONAL PARK – A man got trapped in quicksand in Arches National Park.
Austin Dirks was hiking through Courthouse Wash when his leg broke through the sand, up to his ankle. The other foot got stuck up to the knee.
“My right leg was fixed in place as if set in concrete,” Dirks explained in a Reddit post. “I tried my trekking poles. They sank to the handles the moment I leaned on them. I dug with them anyway, hoping to carve out space around the trapped leg. The stream filled every hole instantly with sand and tiny stones.”
He tried to get out for 30 minutes as water flowed around him, “cold as ice,” with the air temperature in the 20s, putting him at risk for hypothermia. He made the decision to call for help with his GPS satellite messenger. He was stuck there for two hours before an Arches park ranger arrived. Grand County Search & Rescue finally extracted him using ladders, boards, and shovels.
He hiked himself out of the canyon and is doing fine, but says he’s sharing his story to warn others.
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