News Release

Injuries From Lightning Strike Near Lake Haiyaha In Rocky Mountain National Park

Date: August 17, 2019
Contact: Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer, [phone]
Contact: Park Information, [phone]

This afternoon, Saturday, August 17, a 31-year-old man from Thornton, Colorado, suffered numerous serious injuries as a result of a lighting strike. It’s unknown whether he was directly struck by lightning. He was hiking below tree line, between Dream Lake and Lake Haiyaha, when the lightning strike occurred. Other hikers found him injured along the trail and called park rangers.

Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue team members reached the man and provided advanced medical care. Team members brought him down the trail in a wheeled litter to the Bear Lake Trailhead. He was taken by Estes Park Health ambulance to Glacier Basin Campground. Due to ongoing storms along the Front Range, Classic Air Medical from Steamboat Springs flew from west of the Continental Divide to a large meadow near the Glacier Basin Campground. The man was then flown to Medical Center of the Rockies.

No further information is available at this time.