Dog tumbles down popular waterfall with several cascades. Video shows Virginia rescue
A dog tumbled down a popular waterfall — then Virginia rescuers stepped in, video shows.
Winnie the pup disappeared after she went over Crabtree Falls, described as the “highest vertical-drop cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River.” The attraction “features a series of five major cascades and a number of smaller ones that fall a total distance of 1,200 feet,” according to the Virginia is for Lovers tourism website.
Wintergreen Fire & Rescue said it responded to the Nelson County waterfall, where crews searched for the lost dog for hours with no luck. Eventually, she was spotted on the “far side of the falls,” leading to a heartwarming reunion with her owner.
“This story would typically end with a cute dog photo,” rescuers wrote Nov. 23 in a Facebook post. “Today however, the dog’s owner made a video of the experience. The video says so much more about what it takes to complete these missions than can be stated here.”
Footage shared online shows a rescuer using a rope to rappel down a steep side of the waterfall, reaching Winnie before she made it to safety. Some Facebook users hailed the crew members as heroes, while others said the actions left them emotional.
Crabtree Falls is near the Blue Ridge Parkway, a scenic road that passes through the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. Rescuers in their post didn’t say how high Winnie was when she fell from the waterfall, which has several overlooks.
“She helped give everyone a reminder of why we don’t get off the trail when hiking Crabtree Falls,” the Piney River Volunteer Fire Department, one of the other agencies that responded to the scene, wrote on Facebook. “She went out to get a drink of water and slid off.”
Wintergreen Fire & Rescue didn’t immediately share additional information with McClatchy News on Nov. 27. The rescue agency has a presence in the Nellysford area, a roughly 95-mile drive northeast from Roanoke.
This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Dog tumbles down popular waterfall with several cascades. Video shows Virginia rescue."
