SPEARFISH - Twenty-year-old Jeremiah Steely of Spearfish was hoping to spend an afternoon at Devil's Bathtub on Thursday with friends.

He did spend most of the afternoon there, but much of it was spent in a stretcher after he fell off a wet log and injured his knee.

"At first it just looked like this big deep dent in his knee, but then it swelled up huge," said Steely's girlfriend, Alicia Halls.

They were in a group of about a dozen people, and Halls said they had just arrived at Devil's Bathtub when the accident happened.

There were other people at the popular hiking spot in Spearfish Canyon, and Halls said some helped the friends to fashion a splint from a log, a handkerchief and some shoelaces.

"As long as his leg was straight he was OK," Halls said.

But bending it or putting any weight on it was excruciating.

"Our friends tried to have him drape his arms over their shoulders so they could help him back, but he's so much taller than they are and it just wasn't going to work. We could see he needed a stretcher," she said.

So Halls hustled the mile or so back down the creek to call for help. With no cell service, she got in her car and drove until she had service - nearly to Bridal Veil Falls.

"I was freaking out," she said.

Spearfish Search and Rescue and a Spearfish Ambulance crew got the call at 3 p.m. and headed up the canyon.

On a narrow path with downed trees and steep slopes, the rescue workers hurried to the patient, zig-zagging across the creek and through the woods.

Once they got to Steely, they tended to his medical needs before carrying him on the stretcher back down the rough terrain - with a firefighter wielding a chainsaw clearing downed trees that blocked parts of the path.

They reached the ambulance around 5:30 p.m., and Steely was taken to Spearfish Regional Hospital.

Spearfish Volunteer Fire Chief Pat Kellogg said seven firefighters responded to the call, along with three ambulance service personnel.

"On a rescue like that, we have to organize at the station and make sure we have the right equipment," Kellogg said. "You don't know what all you're going to need, so you take everything you think you're going to need."

Fire department volunteer Doug Custis said that means things such as ropes, climbing gear and chainsaws.

The crew put a stretcher wheel to work for the first time.

"We've had it for a couple years, but this is the first time it's ever been used," Kellogg said.

The firefighters appreciated the help it gave when they needed a rest and could balance the stretcher without fully lifting it at all times.

Kellogg said more manpower would have been nice, but because the department is volunteer, many people cannot leave work to go on a call in the middle of the day.

"The most difficult part of the rescue was the terrain," he said. "The rocks, the trees down, the narrow path … and there's more water right now than usual."

Kellogg said Steely remained calm and responsive throughout the rescue effort.

Halls said the workers were helpful and quick in getting Steely on the stretcher.

"And they said we had made a really good splint," she said.