A woman and her dog were swept downstream in a river canyon in Northern California and were later saved following a complex, four-hour rescue operation.

On the evening of Aug. 26 a woman was hiking with friends in the South Yuba River Canyon in Nevada County when her dog reportedly fell into the river near Emerald Pools, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. When the hiker, who was not identified by name, jumped into the water to save her pet, they were both swept downstream.

At 6:40 p.m. local time, a friend who witnessed the accident called 911, and the sheriff’s office’s ropes and drones teams were dispatched.

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Rescue teams found the woman and her dog stuck on a large boulder in the middle of the river.

“Due to the complex, steep terrain and difficult access, additional specialized fire resources were requested,” said officials, noting that multiple agencies were brought in to assist in the rescue effort. With the help of a 300-foot rope system, a crew member was lowered to the riverbed and gave the woman, who had sustained minor injuries, a personal flotation device.

Fifty first responders helped rescue the hiker and her pet.Nevada County Sheriff’s Office
The dog was then secured in a harness, and the team member and animal were brought to the rim of the canyon, authorities said.

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That same rescuer then went back to the river and put the injured hiker in a climbing harness. The rescue crews began to haul her up the cliff face before switching to a secondary rope system at the rim of the canyon.

Both the woman and her pet were doing well following the rescue, officials said.

The Yuba River Canyon in California.Getty
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“Due to the complexity of her location in the water and challenging cliff terrain, the entire rescue operation took approximately 4 hours and involved 50 first responders,” the sheriff’s office said.

The South Yuba drops a staggering 4,000 feet in elevation over a course of 40 miles, according to the South Yuba River Citizens League. As a result, there are “hundreds of stunning waterfalls intermixed with placid emerald pools.” The body of water is part of the larger Yuba River Watershed, and the region is popular for hiking, horseback riding and biking, according to the organization.