Survival expert Shane Hobel says a pole or stick is key to survival if you get stuck in quicksand.
A hiker was trapped in quicksand for hours Saturday while his girlfriend rushed to find help.
All it took was one wrong step into a harmless-looking pool at Utah’s Zion National Park and 34-year-old Ryan Osmun found himself trapped.
"The best way to describe it would be ... standing in a huge puddle of concrete that basically just dries instantly," Osmun told CBS News.
With no cellphone signal and Osmun slowly sinking into the ground, girlfriend Jessika McNeill had to run for assistance.
“I didn’t know if I was for sure gonna make it out,” she told CBS News. “I didn’t know if I could do that hike alone.”
At one point, McNeill said she even considered turning back for Osmun, not wanting to waste what she believed might be their last moments together.
Three hours after she left him, as a storm brewed, she managed to find a park ranger. It took another 10 hours to reach Osmun and two more to free him.
"One guy scraping sand away, they were able to free my leg. It was probably one of the worst pains I've ever felt," Osmun said.
Then, to add insult to injury, they had to stay there overnight after a storm dumped snow on the trails, preventing them from hiking back out.
On Sunday, they were rescued by a helicopter.
So what should you do if you find yourself trapped in quicksand? Survival expert Shane Hobel told Inside Edition that carrying a long stick or a hiking pole is key.
"I can push through if I need to and break that seal, or put it behind me if I need to lay back on myself, kind of get myself horizontal, or forward, use it as a paddling effect," Hobel said, demonstrating.
As for Osmun, he has no plans to return to that trail again.
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