The National Park Service and Air National Guard rescued two people from a cliff face in a prohibited area of Kenai Fjords National Park in Seward on Monday.
According to a release from the park service, they were called by Alaska State Troopers on Monday afternoon. They were told that two people were stranded in the “Exit Creek Prohibited Visitor Use Zone.” Exit Creek is the stream that runs off Exit Glacier, near Seward.
Park rangers and other staff “promptly” responded and were able to contact one of the two people. The second, however, had been injured in a fall. That second person was extracted by an Air National Guard helicopter and transported to an Anchorage hospital. Park rangers helped the other person hike out of the area.
“For your safety, please remain on designated park trails,” the release reads. “Closures in Kenai Fjords National Park are implemented to protect both visitors and park staff who respond to emergencies.”
On Tuesday evening, there was an alert published by the park service warning of a possible outburst flood in the canyon below Exit Glacier, “susceptible to unpredictable glacier outburst flooding events which can produce sudden surges of water combined with large ice chunks, rock, and other debris.”
For more information about Kenai Fjords National Park, visit nps.gov/kefj.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
