Hiker dies from fall near Pierre Lakes Basin

The Aspen Times
July 23, 2023

A hiker between Heckart Pass and Pierre Lakes Basin died on Saturday morning in a fall into a gully and over a cliff, the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office reported. The hiker, a male from out of the area, was not identified.

The Regional Emergency Dispatch Center received a Garmin inReach SOS activation at 10:57 a.m., and Mountain Rescue Aspen exchanged messages with a friend of the hiker via Garmin inReach.

Pierre Lakes Basin is 12 miles west of Aspen, and the hike into Pierre Lakes Basin is nine miles from the nearest trailhead.

Careflight of the Rockies from Rifle was used to insert two Mountain Rescue members near the site at 11:40 a.m. to search for the injured hiker. They used a drone to find the hiker, according to the report.

Based on the location of the search, Mountain Rescue requested help from the High Altitude Aviation Training Site (HAATS) of the Colorado Army National Guard out of Eagle, which sent a helicopter.

HAATS and Mountain Rescue personnel recovered the body of the hiker who fell; they extracted the deceased man using a hoist and took the body to Aspen before returning to retrieve Mountain Rescue members and the friend of the hiker from the site.

A total of 23 MRA members participated in the mission, as well as an ambulance crew from the Aspen Ambulance District. The Aspen Hope Center also provided crisis support.  

Click here to access the article online.