Jackee Coe

The Republic | azcentral.com

A 70-year-old man stranded overnight in a steep and rugged Arizona canyon after hiking with a group of Boy Scouts received a welcome, if unusual, Father's Day gift Sunday when rescuers came to his aid.

The group of 12 Scouts and adults had been hiking for days but ran into trouble Saturday afternoon in a hard-to-reach canyon east of Camp Verde in Yavapai County's West Clear Creek area, according to officials.

The county Sheriff's Office was notified just before 3p.m. Saturday that the Boy Scout troop had not returned to a previously designated location as agreed, Yavapai sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said.

When officials could not reach the group by cellphone, a search was launched.

Using an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter, crews located the group just after 6p.m., D'Evelyn said.

Most among them were able to hike out to safety and meet with a crew from the sheriff's backcountry unit, D'Evelyn said.

But the 70-year-old, who had a medical condition, was unable to emerge from the rugged terrain at the base of the steep canyon. And so, with his son and his grandson staying by his side, the unidentified man waited, authorities said.

Morning broke, and by 6:30 a.m. Sunday — Father's Day — the man was airlifted out.

He was being treated for cardiac issues at Verde Valley Medical Center.