Horseback Injury and Lost Hiker Search and Rescue in Big Sky

The search and rescue teams were busy in Big Sky on Tuesday. Their first call was for an injury on a horseback trail in Big Sky. The second call of a lost hiker in Beehive Basin came after 8pm.

According to the Gallatin County Sheriff:

Tuesday at 12:54 P.M., the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a 58-year-old male injured in a fall from a horse on Buffalo Horn Creek Trail South of Big Sky.

• The rider was with others on a guided horseback tour.
• The guide was equipped with a satellite phone enabling them to call for assistance from search and rescue.
• The party was 1.5 miles up Buffalo Horn Creek Trail when the patient fell, hurting the left side of his hip.
• Members of the Gallatin County Big Sky Search & Rescue and Big Sky Fire/Ambulance were dispatched.
• The horseback group did have water and some other equipment to aid the patient during the wait until Search & Rescue could arrive.
• Rescuers from Gallatin County Search & Rescue at Big Sky were able to provide needed aid and safely transport the injured man out to the trail head where he was reunited with family.

At 8:22 p.m., County Dispatch received a 911 call from a lost hiker, a 22-year-old male from Oklahoma. Coordinates retrieved from the 911 call indicated that the hiker was near the head of Beehive Basin in the area of Spanish Lakes.

• Although he was uninjured, the hiker had become disoriented, had no survival gear, had minimal clothing and his cellphone battery was extremely low.
• Rescuers from the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, the Big Sky Division of Gallatin County Search and Rescue, and a Helicopter from Carish Helicopters responded.
• After searching the area surrounding the gps coordinates, the helicopter was unable to locate the lost hiker because he kept going after making the 911 call.
• A short while later, the hiker was located by security personnel on Jack Creek road, tired and thirsty but otherwise uninjured.