Brandon Garrett's pickup truck landed in North Pine Creek after plummeting off Forest Road 39 northeast of Halfway on June 2, 2023.

HALFWAY — A 60-year-old Halfway man survived a night in the woods northeast of Halfway after the car he was driving plummeted off an embankment along Forest Road 39 north of Highway 86 on Sunday, June 2.

Members of the Baker County Search and Rescue ropes team rescued Brandon Garrett on Monday, June 3.

He was taken by Halfway Ambulance to a Life Flight helicopter that flew him to a regional hospital, according to a press release from the Baker County Sheriff’s Office.

The rescue effort started about 9:28 a.m. on Monday when the Baker County Dispatch Office received a report of a vehicle off Road 39. The caller, Tyree Garrett, said his brother, Brandon Garrett, had failed to return to their camp the previous day. Relatives found Brandon Garrett’s car, along North Pine Creek about 12 miles north of Highway 86, but they couldn’t reach it due to steep terrain. The area is about one mile south of the junction with the Fish Lake Road, No. 66.

The search and rescue team, along with Sheriff Travis Ash, the Halfway Ambulance and Pine Valley Rural Fire District, responded. Ash found the vehicle, along with a dog, in North Pine Creek at the bottom of a steep, brushy ravine. Ash then heard someone yell for help.

Brandon Garrett was about 100 yards from the vehicle. Ash helped Garrett with his injuries, and Pine Valley Rural Fire District volunteers, along with U.S. Forest Service employees, used chainsaws to clear a path for rescuers.

The ropes team secured Garrett in a basket and, using a system of suspended ropes, carried him across the ravine.

Police determined that Garrett was driving on Road 39 on Sunday, with his four dogs, when he failed to make a curve and went off the road. One of Garrett’s dogs traveled nearly four miles to the family’s camp.

Garrett crawled away from his vehicle and spent the night in the open. The three other dogs survived. Two of the dogs were injured and are being treated by a veterinarian, said Ashley McClay, public information officer for the sheriff’s office.