The Verde Search and Rescue Posse, which assists the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office and other first responders in search and rescue operations in Sedona and the Verde Valley, has surpassed its 2025 mission count of 84.

■ Mission 82: Saturday, Aug. 22, 10:30 a.m. Aerie Trail. VSAR responded to a pair of mountain bikers from Phoenix who were lost on the Aerie with a disabled bike tire. The mountain bike team was able to fix the tire. Twelve volunteers responded.

■ Mission 83: Saturday, Aug. 22, 8:05 p.m. Mescal, “Birthing Cave” area. A 911 call from a foreign cell phone with an estimated group of 12 lost hikers said that they were lost. “VSAR searchers set out to the 911 coordinates and no one was located in the area,” VSAR wrote. “A broader search was conducted on Mescal Butte and the full trail around the mountain,” which included Deadman’s Pass, Long Canyon, Mescal Trail and parts of Boynton Canyon. “We are unable to call the number back due to out-of-country limitations,” VSAR stated. VSAR used a drone and an Arizona Department of Public Safety Ranger helicopter flew the area with-night imaging equipment. VSAR searchers were released after the helicopter ended the search.

■ Mission 84: Sunday, Aug. 23, 11:50 a.m. Devils Bridge/Forest Road 152. Fourteen VSAR volunteers responded after a Jeep tour driver reported hearing a man yell for help off trail near Devils Bridge Trailhead, north of Forest Service Road 152. Others also heard the man and called 911. Nothing was found, nor on the Chuckwagon Trail. The road was driven by VSAR 4x4s. The area was crowded with hikers on trail and the dirt road, but nothing was substantiated and the search ended.

■ Mission 85: Monday, Aug. 24, 1:11 p.m. Bell Rock. A Pennsylvania hiker called in that she was ledged out on Bell Rock,” VSAR wrote about its fifth callout to that location in 2026. “After a great hike she became stuck as she descended. She stopped in an area with an 18′-20′ drop off.” She climbed to a much higher point on Bell Rock. “A hasty team got to her and used a safety line belay to give some added support to scramble to a better route off of the mountain.”

Visit verdesar.org for more information.