Volunteer Firefighters Rescue Pack of Bear Hounds from Icy Hollow in the Appalachians

A bear hunt along Virginia’s Blue Ridge Parkway turned into a dangerous rescue mission last week when a hunter’s pack of hounds became trapped in an icy hollow. First responders from the Glasgow Volunteer Fire Department saved all six dogs over the course of two days, reuniting them with their owner on Thursday, Dec. 29.

“It was a mess,” says Fire Chief John Hill, who led the rescue effort near Glasgow, Virginia. “We’ve rescued many dogs in the past, but this was some of the most treacherous stuff I’ve ever dealt with.”

Two Back-to-Back Rescue Missions

Upon receiving a call about the trapped bear hounds on the afternoon of Dec. 28, Chief Hill and his team had just finished rescuing another hunting dog. The female hound, named “Bradley’s Hardtime Bonus,” had fallen into a hole in the ground the previous evening while hunting with her owner. By the time the volunteer firefighters arrived on Wednesday morning, Bradley had already spent the night underground.

The rescue of Bradley went smoothly. Five firefighters were present, and one of them was lowered into the hole with ropes and a harness.

“She was so excited to see her rescuer descending into the hole where she spent the night,” reads a Facebook post from the department. “The crew from Rescue 2 promptly brought her back above ground without any injuries. She expressed her gratitude with tail wags and licks!”

However, little did the rescuers know that this mission was only a warm-up. Compared to what they were about to face, saving one hound from a hole in the ground was a cakewalk.

Trapped in the Wilderness

Hill, a full-time K-9 handler for the local police department and an experienced bear hunter, was familiar with the Thunder Ridge Wilderness from his days of running hounds after black bears. Located off the Blue Ridge Parkway along the Appalachian Trail, Hill described the wilderness as covering some of the steepest and rockiest ground in the area. It’s especially challenging to reach or traverse in winter when the National Park Service closes the Parkway to vehicles. When Hill received a call last Wednesday about six hounds trapped in the wilderness since the previous night, he knew they were in real trouble.

“The [hunter] called and tried to explain the situation to me,” Hill recalls. “This was the second day that the dogs were trapped. He had attempted to rescue them that morning, but he slipped and broke his tailbone.”

The hunter, who lives a couple hours north of Glasgow, explained to Hill that his pack of 10 hounds were pursuing a bear Tuesday afternoon. The dogs chased it well above the trail and ended up in a treacherous patch of ice-covered rocks. Four hounds managed to get through, while the GPS tracker showed that the other six were still stuck in the hollow.

By the time the hunter contacted the fire department on Wednesday after 3 p.m., Hill and his crew had about four hours of daylight left. It would take them at least a couple of hours to reach the dogs on foot from the nearest trailhead, so Hill devised a better plan. He called the Park Service and arranged for the unlocking of some gates to allow them to drive on the Parkway. However, progress was slow due to snow and fallen trees blocking the road. At least 20 trees had to be cleared before they reached the closest point to the dogs.

“The dogs had GPS collars, so we input their coordinates, and from that point, we were only about 250 yards away,” Hill explains. “But Thunder Ridge is steep and treacherous, with an inch-and-a-half of ice coating every rock up there. The location where the dogs were trapped is called Dark Hollow because it never receives sunlight.”

Down in Dark Hollow

Equipped with ice cleats and harnesses, Hill and the seven firefighters carefully ascended the mountain and then descended into Dark Hollow using ropes. The temperature hovered around the 20s. As they followed their GPS unit toward the hounds, they shouted and tried to get them to bark, but the dogs remained unresponsive.

Hill began to worry that they had arrived too late until he finally spotted the hounds. Miraculously, they were still alive. Two dogs were stuck in one area, while the remaining four were trapped further down the hollow, roughly 80 yards away.

“Imagine large icy cobblestones. It was extremely slippery,” Hill describes. “Without cleats and ropes, there was no way we could have entered that area.”

By nightfall, the rescuers had successfully secured the two closest dogs using ropes. Although Hill desired to rescue the other four, he assessed the risks and decided against it, opting to return the next day.

When the team arrived back at Dark Hollow the following morning, the sun illuminated the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the hunters joined in to assist with the rescue. By midday on Dec. 29, all four remaining dogs had been pulled up from the icy hollow.

After enduring over 36 hours without food or water, the hounds were cold and exhausted. Fortunately, none of them had sustained any major injuries. While Hill was pleased to reunite the dogs with their owner, he took a moment to educate the hunter about the danger he had subjected his hounds to.

“I’m not sure how long they had been running before getting trapped, but I’m sure they were already worn out,” Hill remarks. “As former hunters, we never ran our dogs that high on ice. The guy who came here had no appreciation for the terrain he was encountering. We had a conversation about it, so I don’t think he’ll repeat his mistake.”