Injured Hiker Rescued by Deputy on Horseback Near Toad Lake

On Sunday, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a hiker who had injured his knee near Toad Lake and was unable to make the half-mile hike back to the parking lot. When the Deputy Scott Stock arrived at the parking lot, he couldn’t advance his patrol car any further.

That’s when a nearby camper offered the assistance of his equine friends.

Mike Bingham was visiting from Shasta Lake City and had brought his two horses to the area, so he and Deputy Stock saddled up the horses and made the trek to rescue the injured hiker.

They quickly found the hiker on the trail near Toad Lake and were able to load him up on one of the horses and bring him back to the parking lot area. It was a great example of teamwork, both with humans and animals, in the greta outdoors.

“The injured but grateful citizen was eventually able to leave the area when reunited with his vehicle and he chose to seek medical attention for his injured knee on his own,” Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey said to KDRV12. “This was a good case of ‘team work’ between an innovative deputy and a thoughtful citizen, whose ‘old fashion but effective’ solution to a challenging situation, with the help of two good horses, resulted in a happy ending to this important rescue mission.”