Fox 13 Salt Lake City has the incredible story of Austin Dirks who became trapped in quicksand during a solo hike in Arches National Park. The park is 119 square miles and is the worlds most concentrated area of natural arches with over 2000 created by nature inside the park.
Austin has logged thousands of hours in the park says he was shocked when his left leg broke through what he believed was solid ground. "I was able to pull it out but with all my weight back on my right leg that sank very quickly to my knee". He had wandered approximately 20-30 yards into a recently developed quicksand area.
He said quicksand is a lot different than how it was shown on TV. He described the sensation as similar to stepping into wet concrete that almost instantly hardened around his leg. "The human body is more buoyant than the quicksand, so you'll never sink to above your head, but you are trapped to die out there from the elements dehydration or starvation".
Austin was able to use his GPS satellite messenger to send his location to rescuers. He was stuck in a 45 degree position much like being stuck leaning forward in a ski boot for almost 3 hours while the Grand County Search and Rescue teams used a drone to pinpoint his position and then get out there to save him.
Without the ability to contact rescuers Austin would have most likely died. Temps were in the 20's and on the off chance that another hiker came upon him they too would have most likely become stuck without special equipment.
Using a ladder and traction boards across the unstable ground, rescue workers were able to reach Dirks and safely free him. Incident commander John Marshall says quicksand encounters in Utah are uncommon, with the last one happening in 2014. He also points out that quicksand develops on it's own so park officials are unable to simply rope off certain areas because it will be there for a while and then harden again while a different area that's firm suddenly becomes quicksand. So they simply have warnings all around the
Austin says that this is the closest he's ever been to death and is so appreciative to be in that very small group of folks who have been rescued from quicksand.