Despite a series of recent high-profile deaths and injuries at Ontario conservation officials, authorities say some hikers are still taking unnecessary risks.
“A few of them wander off the marked trails and start to adventure climb up and down the cliffs,” says Centre Wellington fire chief Brad Patton.
“That’s where we often get into trouble.”
That’s what happened Monday night near the Elora Gorge.
According to Wellington County OPP, a group of friends had been hiking in the gorge. When they tried to climb out, they realized they were on private property and tried to make their way back down into the gorge.
One of the hikers, a 20-year-old man, then slipped and fell more than 15 metres to the ground. An air ambulance ended up taking him to a Toronto hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Patton says Centre Wellington firefighters typically respond to several rescues at the gorge over the course of a summer. Some years, there are more than a dozen such calls.
“Every year, people get stuck partway up and the fire department has to be called to get them down – or, even worse, they fall,” he says.
“I’m not sure why they’re not getting the message.”
In addition to putting themselves in danger, Patton says hikers are also putting firefighters in potential danger – as even though they spend hundreds of hours training for rescue scenarios, such events are “very complex and dangerous” under any conditions.
Patton says anyone planning on hiking in the gorge should remember one safety message.
“Stick to the trails,” he says.
“Don’t climb the cliffs. They are dangerous.”
With reporting by Brandon Rowe
