April 28, 2012
By David Krough, KQW.com
ESTACADA – A hunter and his two dogs were taken to safety during a thunderstorm after falling down a slope along the Clackamas River Thursday.
Clackamas County rescuers found 48-year-old Jeff Gracey had fallen thousands of feet down a slope several miles up from the Roaring River campground after Gracey’s son called 911.
Paramedics were able to hike down and assess his injuries, which were not life-threatening, but he was unable to get himself back up to the trail.
Deputies said the Gracey had a well-constructed shelter, camp supplies and “had done everything right.”
An Oregon Army National Guard medevac Black-hawk was called in and a para-rescue jumper was able to lift Gracey to safety as rains and lightning moved in, rescuers said.
Another rescue team was able to hiked 2,000 vertical feet back up to the trail with the his two dogs.
“This was one of those calls which looked straightforward at first,” Reach And Treat paramedic Robert Aberle said. “It quickly escalated to something else — a call where we didn’t know where the patient was at. We’re just really thankful that we were able to airlift the patient out. It would have been an extremely difficult evacuation to move him back up the hillside we were on.”