Father, daughter rescued after being stranded in Red River Gorge

KENTUCKY (WKYT) - A father and daughter were rescued on Monday, Aug. 17, after being stranded in Red River Gorge for 34 hours.

The Wolfe County Search & Rescue Team and Powell County Search & Rescue were alerted to a report of two missing persons by the Kentucky State Police.

The teams had only a description of the pair’s truck to go by, but were able to locate the vehicle.

The pair traveled into the area on Saturday, Aug. 15, to camp along Swift Camp Creek. Heavy rains caused the water near their campsite to rise rapidly, then swept away their gear and food.

Trapped on high ground with no discernible exit, the father used a rope to climb higher but passed out due to exhaustion.

The daughter sent a satellite SOS message to a friend, who in turn relayed the coordinates to relatives.

Armed with that information, rescue teams traversed the Rock Bridge Trail and located the two, who were weak and disoriented.

After being treated by emergency officials from the Wolfe County Ambulance Service, the father and daughter were cleared to travel home.

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