Warm weather has arrived at last and Utah Valley residents are getting outside to enjoy it. That means stuck vehicles (there's still plenty of snow in the mountains), lost and stranded hikers, and accident victims. So far this weekend, we've had all three. Summer is always the busiest time for search and rescue with an average of two missions per week and occasionally as many as eight or twelve. Now and then we go for a month or more without incident. This weekend I'm noticing that it's not just actual missions that can quickly burn up a weekend. Our second call came out Friday night for a hiker stranded on a steep, snow-covered mountain. I got a helicopter ride to an LZ (landing zone) within a mile of the hiker with Provo PD Mountain Rescue Team member Sam Hunter. We hiked in the dark across steep snowfields and through thick brush full of thorny wild roses. My crampons caught the brush once and tripped me, sending me for a quick tumble down the steep mountainside. That must be where I got all these scratches on my arm. When the chopper returned to spotlight the victim for us some time later, we were only 200 yards away and almost perfectly in line with him. We gave him water and warm clothing and put on a harness and helmet, then tied webbing tag lines to prevent him from sliding hundreds of feet down the steep snow-covered mountainside. Another Provo PD and paramedic who had been dropped off just before us quickly arrived and we added their tag lines. It turns out I already knew our victim. We met about a month ago in a steep, cliffy area near Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. The team rescued him again in nearby Dry Canyon soon after, and tonight's rescue was his third encounter with his new friends - search and rescue - the only people willing to hike with him, it seems. Downclimbing the steep snow was treacherous. One slip could prove fatal to a hiker without crampons and mountain axe as sliding into large trees and rocks could be the only way to stop in most areas. I was glad to have brought an extra pair of crampons which I gave to Sam. Our vic slipped once and was immediately caught by the three Provo rescuers. I walked below everyone with my crampons and axe, ready to catch anyone who slipped and kicking steps as deep as possible in the often-hard avalanche debris as we dropped a thousand feet or more down a ridge and gully. Sam also carried my 200' rope in case we found an impassible cliff band as often happens in our local mountains. On some rescues, surrounded by hundred-foot cliffs and loose rock which sometimes goes flying past us or other extreme circumstances, I realize what an exciting place Utah County is to be part of the search and rescue team. The snow lasted nearly the whole way down, which made the going much easier, and we only had to scramble down half a dozen small cliffs before reaching the road and a squadron of four wheelers and a Rhino waiting to drive us down the steep, rocky Slate Canyon. In the parking lot, after trying to get our hiker to agree to stay on the trail when hiking alone, a Provo PD officer finally told our victim that he would be arrested if caught hiking alone anywhere in the county again. The message seemed to get through for the first time. We'll see! "Thanks for saving the day. Again. As always," said the ever-gracious SAR Commander Jared Hansen as he gave me a ride back to my truck. I got home at 5 a.m. A thin crescent moon was just rising above the mountains, the sky was just beginning to grow light, and hundreds of birds were chirping so loudly that I wondered how anyone could sleep through it. I slept a few hours and worked until our next call out. This time a girl had fallen off a 20' cliff and tumbled another 20' until she stopped in the water next to a waterfall where we've cleaned up fall victims with much more serious consequences. Life Flight arrived soon after our teams reached her and lowered a paramedic with their hoist, then flew away with him and the victim dangling below. It would be quite a view if the vic could just turn over and look down! I came home and crashed, catching up on my sleep, but now it's 1:20 a.m. Sunday morning. I don't know how long till I'll be able to fall asleep again. As long as I'm up, maybe this would be a good time for our next mission. A search on the lake might be fun and would round out our weekend. Update: we had two calls to the lake on Sunday, but both ended before we got to do anything.