‘GREAT PAIN’

California Hiker Rescued After Getting Stuck Under 6,000-Pound Boulder

The hiker’s leg was trapped under the boulder, which rescuers estimated to weigh between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds.

A man was rescued after he was pinned by a large boulder while hiking in Inyo County, California on Tuesday afternoon, stranding him on a steep hillside for more than seven hours, officials said. The hiker, who was not identified in a press release from Inyo County Search & Rescue, was found in “great pain” with his left leg trapped under the rock, which rescuers estimated to weigh between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds. After arriving by helicopter and car, members of the rescue team used “a system of ropes, pulleys, and leverage” to shift the boulder enough to free the hiker, who was then airlifted off the hillside via Navy helicopter, with a Navy medic rappelling down to the scene to help hoist him up. He was taken to a hospital in Fresno after midnight. The last rescuers signed out at 4 a.m. on Wednesday morning, according to the press release. Whether the hiker had been released from the hospital by Sunday was not immediately clear.