Emergency crews responded to a lost hiker off the Park Road near the north entrance of Fall Creek Falls State Park.

Personnel arrived and found tracks in the snow leading into the woods.

The tracks led to the bluff line overlooking Cane Creek gorge.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol was requested to fly the area with their FLIR thermal imaging camera. The THP helicopter responded and found the subject. Personnel responded to the location. It took a crew of park rangers over an hour to hike to the location.

The patient was down a 700 foot bluff that required a couple of rope systems to be set up for hauls.

The rescue personnel worked to set up the systems and man the ropes.

The extremely cold temperatures and deep snow hampered rescue efforts.

The temperature was recorded as low as -13 degrees.

The patient was brought to the top of the escarpment and carried out to meet a vehicle to be transported to an ambulance.

The hiker was declared deceased.

The last rescuer made it to the top of the bluff around 8 a.m.

One rescuer was treated at a hospital for mild hypothermia.