A 65-year-old Powell man who crashed his dirt bike last week was forced to spend the night on Polecat Bench before being found and rescued the following morning.

Bradford J. Meredith suffered serious injuries in the March 21 crash and hypothermia from his time out in the cold temperatures, the Park County Sheriff’s Office said. He was flown to a Billings hospital for treatment on March 22.

Meredith had left his home to go dirt biking around noon on Sunday, March 21, but he never returned. Around 11 p.m. that day, with Meredith several hours overdue, his wife contacted the sheriff’s office.

Deputies searched around the Powell Municipal Airport and Little Sand Coulee — two areas where Meredith normally rides — but did not find him or his van. They suspended their efforts around 3 a.m. on Monday, March 22, but resumed the search at 8:30 a.m. with the aid of Park County Search and Rescue members and an airplane. The crew in the plane spotted Meredith’s van around 9:45 a.m., about 2.5 miles east of the airport along a rugged two-track road. They soon spotted Meredith lying in front of his wrecked dirt bike, about a quarter-mile from his van in a steep drainage.

An ambulance from Powell Valley Hospital, and the Wilderness Medical Team from Cody Regional Health and a ground team of Park County Search and Rescue
personnel were all dispatched to the scene.

Deputies reached Meredith at 10:10 a.m., reporting that he was responsive but displaying signs of hypothermia and suffering from “what appeared to be several serious injuries,” the sheriff’s office said. The man, who was wearing a helmet and other safety gear, told the deputies he had crashed around 5 p.m. on March 21.

At 11 a.m. on March 22 — roughly 18 hours after the crash — a medical helicopter crew from Guardian Flight evacuated Meredith from the scene and flew him to St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings. The sheriff’s office said it did not know the man’s condition.