Injured hiker, dog were stranded in Idaho backcountry. Then rescuers stepped up

The Idaho Army National Guard and Air St. Luke’s worked together last week to extract an injured hiker and his dog from the Idaho backcountry in a rescue that’s been shared and praised on social media.

The Idaho National Guard explained in a Facebook post that helicopter crews were contacted by Air St. Luke’s on Aug. 14 after learning of a 55-year-old man with a broken leg near Fiddle Lake in the Trinity Mountains, a subrange of the Boise Mountains north of Mountain Home. The small lake lies near the trio of Rainbow lakes, and Big and Little Trinity lakes.

The hospital’s air transport team needed a helicopter with hoist capabilities, the post said, so the Guard’s Detachment 1, Golf Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment responded with an HH-60M Black Hawk and crew. According to National Guard officials, Air St. Luke’s initially thought it would not be able to land an aircraft in the rugged, mountainous terrain near the injured man, but by the time the military crew arrived, Air St. Luke’s had found a place to put down, hiked to the patient and started first aid.

The Black Hawk crew hoisted down senior flight medic Sgt. First Class Jade Parsons to confer with Air St. Luke’s first responders, the post said. The crews determined they were able to evacuate the hiker by stretcher to the Air St. Luke’s helicopter, but said they would not be able to take the man’s gear or his dog because of the aircraft’s power limitations.

So the National Guard stepped in again.

“In the National Guard, we’re also trained in canine medicine, so we know how to sedate, protect and transport them,” Parsons said in the post.

Army medic Staff Sgt. Jake Brown joined Parsons on the ground, where the two improvised a muzzle and hearing protection for the dog before loading him and the hiker’s gear into the Black Hawk. National Guard officials said the dog was friendly and did not need to be sedated for transport.

The dog and gear were delivered about a mile away to an ambulance on standby from Fairfield.

“He was really good,” Parsons said. “When we got him to the ambulance and he got the muzzle off, he turned around and smiled at us.”

The post had nearly 500 “like” and “love” reactions on Facebook by Wednesday afternoon, as well as dozens of shares and numerous comments applauding the Guardsmen.

National Guard officials said it was the crew’s eighth successful search and rescue mission of 2025.