MOAB, Utah (ABC4) – A Grand County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteer made a heroic rescue of six people from Arizona and their dog using his impressive “personal vehicle,” after they got stuck in Thompson Canyon last Wednesday.

The volunteer pulled out his six-wheel Pinzgauer all-terrain military utility vehicle to reach the six Arizonans and transport them back to Moab. SAR said the volunteer is “quite the collector” of impressive vehicles, which have come in handy every now and then for the team.

In this case, they came in handy as the group from Arizona attempted the Thompson Canyon/Polar Mesa trail while it was raining and snowing on March 15.

The group got to the trail from Onion Creek, just off Highway 128, before their vehicles got stuck in some deep mud. After pulling the lead car forward and having the other cars follow, the group got stuck in three-foot-deep snow, six miles away from Castleton-Gateway Road.

One of the men in the group was able to call his wife in Arizona and alert them of their situation. Grand County SAR said they were alerted just after 5:30 p.m. and responded.

“Grand County SAR decided to approach the group from both ends of the trail. Two Argo Extreme Terrain Vehicles were staged at the dinosaur track site at an elevation of about 8,500 feet on the Castleton-Gateway Road in case access from the lower end of the trail was unsuccessful,” SAR said.

The Argo vehicles weren’t needed though. The SAR volunteer used his military-grade personal vehicle to reach the Arizonans from Onion Creek. SAR said the volunteer made the eight-hour operation faster and easier, as the Argo vehicles would have needed multiple trips to ferry the group to safety.

Grand County SAR used the opportunity to remind the public to research trails before heading out by asking locally about road conditions. The public should also consider the weather and always carry survival gear when heading out.