A Belgian man had to be rescued by park rangers in Death Valley National Park in California after going too far alone into a canyon and ending up in a steep gully.

A pair of Belgian nationals went for a short hike last week in the park’s Mosaic Canyon. At a junction, the man who ended up needing rescue went into a side canyon while his companion stuck to the main trail, the National Park Service said in a release Sunday.

Neither the man who was rescued nor his companion were named by NPS officials.

As he continued into the side canyon, the man found it getting more unstable. He got stranded in a gully about 0.5 miles from the main trail, unable to continue into the canyon or descend back from whence he came.

The stranded hiker did not have any supplies beyond the clothes he was wearing and a phone, which he used to call for help.

Rangers were able to reach him on the ground, but the use of a helicopter to lift him up was aborted after it was determined the helicopter’s blades could jar rocks loose above him and cause them to fall on him, NPS said.

Instead, rangers tied webbing around a boulder to create an anchor, gave the Belgian man a harness and a helmet and helped him down the slope, ultimately getting back to the main trail at around 7 p.m. local time.

NPS officials did not say how long the Belgian man was stranded in the gully.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.