A group of seven college students entered the Cumberland Trail located at the Pocket Wilderness area around 6 p.m. Tuesday evening, but they didn’t leave until 3 a.m Wednesday.
At around 9:15 p.m. a UTC student called 911 to report they were lost on the trail. The student said the group wanted to explore the beautiful scenery, but they weren’t familiar with the area and couldn’t find their way back to the entrance.
The student described the group’s exact location to rescue personnel, who stayed in contact with the student via cell phone.
Tennessee State Parks, Mowbray Volunteer Fire Department and Sequoyah Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene.
It took rescue personnel six hours to get to their location because they had to use rope systems to make their way around mudslides due to washed out trails in three separate locations.
At 3 a.m. dispatch was notified that rescue personnel located all seven students and they were out of the woods.
Two students suffered injuries, one had an ankle injury and the other had a knee injury. They were treated by Hamilton County EMS.