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Friend climbs cliff to get help for injured man — then gets lost, Idaho rescuers say

Rescuers searched for man who became lost after calling 911 for his injured friend in the Seven Devils Mountains in Idaho.
Rescuers searched for man who became lost after calling 911 for his injured friend in the Seven Devils Mountains in Idaho. Riggins Ambulance and Salmon River Ambulance District

A man left his injured friend on an Idaho trail so he could climb a cliff and call for help, rescuers said.

Then he got lost.

The man left his friend with a leg injury on the Goat Trail between Sheep Lake and Mirror Lake in the Seven Devils Mountains near Riggins, the Riggins Ambulance and Salmon River Ambulance District said in a Sept. 7 Facebook post.

He climbed a cliff so he could get cell service to call 911. Rescuers responded and said they found the injured man with non-life-threatening injuries and helped him walk back to his campground.

But the man who called 911 used a satellite device to text dispatchers that he was now lost.

“So the ambulance crew decided they were going to turn around and look for the friend. The Goat Trail at night is NO JOKE,” rescuers said in the post.

Eventually, they found the man next to Mirror Lake.

Seven Devils Mountains have rocky peaks with elevations of more than 9,400 feet, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Riggins is about 155 miles north of Boise.

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This story was originally published September 7, 2023 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Friend climbs cliff to get help for injured man — then gets lost, Idaho rescuers say."

Helena Wegner
McClatchy DC
Helena Wegner is a McClatchy National Real-Time Reporter covering the state of Washington and the western region. She’s a journalism graduate from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s based in Phoenix.
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