During the summer, West Virginia’s Summersville Lake is a popular destination for boating, camping, and even rock climbing. But when lake levels get low in winter, it can become a bog of dense, sticky mud.
That might not sound dangerous, but it posed a major risk for a hiker who tried to cross the lake on Tuesday. Stuck waist-deep in the mud with no ability to escape, the stranded man was eventually rescued in a complex operation involving Fayette County’s vertical rescue team.
Rescuers initially tried to walk to the stranded hiker, located on the southern side of Hughes Bridge. But low water and thick mud stymied their efforts, according to a post from the Summersville Fire Department.
“It’s essentially quicksand,” Lt. Uriah Ludle, a volunteer firefighter, told WCHS Eyewitness News. “You step on it, and you start moving, and it just sucks you in.”
So it was time to call in the vertical rescue team. The group was able to rig together an operation from the bridge, and lower a stretcher down to the hiker. Photos posted by the Summersville Fire Department show at least a dozen people helping in the rescue effort. At one point, a group of seven people joined together in hauling the stranded man up to safety.
The hiker was taken to a nearby hospital, where he’s expected to fully recover, according to WCHS News.
“We would like to thank everyone who came to assist in this call,” the Summersville Fire Department wrote in a Facebook post. “We are very blessed to have such good partners in our region who will come at a moment’s notice.”
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