83-year-old hiker rescued after 24-hour search near Grand Canyon North Rim

Gerald Guinn, 83, of Kanab, Utah, was rescued near the Grand Canyon North Rim after a search that lasted more than 24 hours and pulled in National Park Service rangers and other rescue crews.

Guinn was reported missing after he became separated from his hiking partner on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Searchers last saw him Tuesday afternoon near Forest Service Road 610, known as Dog Saddle, and said he had no hiking gear with him.

A helicopter reconnaissance flight found Guinn around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, about 2.5 miles from the North Rim near the park’s northeast boundary along a forest service road. Crews used a litter carry to move him to a nearby roadway, where emergency medical personnel evaluated him before the rescue was completed.

Grand Canyon National Park posted a missing-person update during the search and later issued a missing-hiker-located notice. The operation ended with Guinn safe after a span that began when he was reported missing on the North Rim and stretched across a full day of air and ground searching.

The rescue highlighted how fast conditions can turn for older visitors in remote terrain. The North Rim’s summer access, which opened for the 2025 season and later reopened in an adaptive way for summer 2026, sits in country where distance, road access and exposure can complicate even a routine hike, especially when a hiker is separated and carrying no gear.