On December 9th, A hiker found himself stuck in quicksand for several hours in Utah’s Arches National Park before eventually being located by emergency responders and rescued unharmed.

An experienced hiker on Sunday, whose now been recognized as Austin Dirks, was venturing through a small canyon on their second day of a 20-mile backpacking trip when he sank up to his thigh.

Due to Dirks being unable to free himself from the sand, Dirks had activated an emergency satellite beacon. His message then got forwarded to Grand County emergency responders

As written in a New York Daily News Article, “ I’m no stranger to getting my feet wet, or, you know, having to trudge through mud, so initially it didn’t strike me as unusual, ” Dirks spoke. “ I’ve hiked in conditions almost identical to that. There were no immediate red flags that stuck out. ” ( Matthews , Dec, 11, 25 ).

Through using a drone camera, John Marshall, a rescue worker that helped Rescue Dirks alongside Grand County emergency responders, saw a park ranger who’d tossed the man a shovel. However, the quicksand quickly flowed back as soon as the backpacker shoveled it away, as cited in an AP News Article. ( Gruver , Dec, 11, 25 ).

“ He described it as like being in a ski boot, how your ankle is bent forward and it’s in that forward position, ” John Marshall told Salt Lake City’s NBC affiliate KSL. “ He found it painful to try to sit back and lean back out of it, which is a method that you can use to extract yourself. “ ( Lofton , Dec, 9, 25 ).

The Grand County Search and Rescue team positioned a ladder, along with some boards, near Dirks and slowly worked his leg loose. By then Austin Dirks had been standing in near-freezing muck, in temperatures around 20 degrees Fahrenheit for a couple of hours.

Rescuers warmed him up until he could stand, then walk. He then hiked out on his own, even carrying his backpack. After 15 minutes with a heated blanket wrapped around his leg, Dirks said he was well enough to hike out with the rescue team.