Hiker stranded on Utah hoodoo with ‘sharp, catastrophic drop on all sides,’ photo shows

A hiker found himself stranded in a precarious spot on top of a “hoodoo with a sharp, catastrophic drop on all sides” in Utah, rescuers said.

The man in his 60s injured his ankle and had leaped over a 5-foot chasm onto the rock spire — and then couldn’t get back across the gap, Grand County EMS and sheriff’s search and rescue officials said in a May 10 post on Facebook.

Rescuers shared a dramatic photo showing the hiker stranded on the mushroom-shaped spire at Pucker Pass in Long Canyon around 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 4. Another photo shows a rescuer wearing a helmet and strapped into a harness as she carefully crawls across a ladder secured to both sides of the ground with ropes to get medical gear to the hiker.

The rescuer tended to the hiker’s injured ankle, and he was able to crawl back across the ladder to safety, officials said. The rescue took about three hours.

“A huge thank you to (Grand County Search And Rescue) for their leadership, technical skills, and unparalleled creativity to access the patient,” officials said in the post. “As we head into another beautiful weekend here in Moab, remember — just ‘cause ya saw a picture of it online, doesn’t always mean it’s the best idea.”

The post caught the attention of a social media account known as @TouronsofYellowstone on Instagram, which highlights bad behavior in national parks.

“How (awful) and sad,” someone wrote in the comments on the account’s May 11 post on Instagram. “I cannot go to that park. People do the scariest things!!!! Every step of (the) way people were practically falling off walkways doing selfies. Hanging their feet over 2,000 feet drops. I was sick. Just horrified.”