‘Tough puppy’ stranded on frozen Utah waterfall reunited with her owner on Christmas
A report of a missing family member on Christmas morning led a team of search and rescue volunteers to discover the man and his dog stranded on a frozen waterfall in Utah.
Nala was hiking near Waterfall Canyon with her owner on Christmas Eve when they got separated from each other, search and rescue authorities said in a news release posted to Facebook on Dec. 26.
Rescuers said her owner couldn’t find her before nightfall “after a long search,” and she had to spend the night on the mountain.
Her owner went back early the next morning to keep looking for her. He was out of cell service range and wasn’t responding to his family’s calls and texts, so when they hadn’t heard from him by 1 p.m., they reported him missing to authorities.
Eventually, he was able to answer one of their calls and told them he had found Nala above the waterfall but couldn’t get to her because of the steep, icy terrain, authorities said.
The only way to reach Nala on the frozen waterfall would be through technical climbing, so a volunteer search and rescue team with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office set out to rescue her.
Using a drone, rescuers spotted Nala trapped above the waterfall with no way to get down and watched her until the climb team got to her. After spending the brutally cold night by herself, she was nervous and ran away from them at first.
The drone video of the rescue shows them trying to reassure her by kneeling down and coaxing her toward them. Ultimately, she was more afraid of the drone’s buzzing overhead, and she approached them.
Though she was freezing and had a few minor injuries, she was able to hike back down the mountain with them as dusk set in.
“She is one tough puppy!” officials said in the release. “Once reaching the trailhead parking lot, both human and canine couldn’t have been happier to be reunited. A very Merry Christmas Rescue.”
Waterfall Canyon is about 35 miles north of Salt Lake City.It’s a 2.4-mile out-and-back hike that’s considered “moderately challenging,” according to AllTrails.com.
This story was originally published December 28, 2022 at 4:29 PM with the headline "‘Tough puppy’ stranded on frozen Utah waterfall reunited with her owner on Christmas."
