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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Freezing temperatures forecast to follow wet weekend ... Successful post-seasons put SOU athletic budget in the red ... Morrison's Rogue River Lodge to be revitalized through merger ... Freezing temperatures forecast to follow wet weekend ... Successful post-seasons put SOU athletic budget in the red ... Morrison's Rogue River Lodge to be revitalized through merger ... A tragic reminder Saturday's fatal fall was the second accident involving a hiker on the Table Rocks in a year Before her son fell more than 50 feet to his death, Susan George-Bouknight worried he would try to climb the Table Rocks without proper equipment. Comment By SARAH LEMON MailTribune.com By SARAH LEMON Posted Apr. 30, 2007 at 12:01 AM By SARAH LEMON Posted Apr. 30, 2007 at 12:01 AM » Social News Before her son fell more than 50 feet to his death, Susan George-Bouknight worried he would try to climb the Table Rocks without proper equipment. "I said, 'You shouldn't be free-climbing,' " George-Bouknight recalled. Her son, 21-year-old Steven Casey Bouknight, assured her he was just hiking. But Saturday evening, George-Bouknight received a call from other hikers atop Upper Table Rock. Her son had been in an accident, they said. "There was nothing they could have done," the 55-year-old Medford resident said. "He was so badly broken." Suffering head injuries and numerous fractures, Steven Bouknight was dead when personnel with Jackson County Fire District No. 3 reached him, said Capt. Robert Walters. A helicopter at about 9 p.m. hoisted Bouknight's body from a pile of crumbled rock at the base of a cliff. It was the second time in less than a year District No. 3 was called to rescue a fallen hiker at the Table Rocks. Robert Linkous, 43, of Central Point, was hoisted to safety at Lower Table Rock on May 21 after he tried to climb a steep section and fell almost 100 feet. Linkous survived with broken bones and sprains. "It's rotten rock," Walters said. "It's basalt columns, and they just kind of crumble away." Even experienced hikers may not be aware of the mesas' dangers, Walters said. Students in a mountain rescue class he taught last week for Rogue Community College had to be warned away from the edges, Walters said. "This is the time of year people get out and get in trouble," Walters said. Following last year's four-hour effort to retrieve Linkous, rescuers reached Bouknight Saturday evening in about an hour. Bouknight's 23-year-old brother, Billy, performed CPR before Mercy Flights paramedics arrived. George-Bouknight said the older son told her that, while hiking with him and another friend, Steven Bouknight stepped on a boulder that gave way. "He misstepped," she said. Bouknight, who lived with his parents on Winchester Street, had a bad knee that kept him from his goal of entering the military, his mother said. He was soon starting a job at Home Depot in Phoenix and worked at the Grange Co-op store in Ashland, she said. While attending South Medford High School, Bouknight sang in the choir. Bouknight's body was turned over to the county medical examiner, who will determine the exact cause of death, Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters said late Saturday. Winters previously said Bouknight fell onto his head and neck. The sheriff's department's search and rescue division assisted District No. 3 and Mercy Flights. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected]. By SARAH LEMON MailTribune.com By SARAH LEMON Posted Apr. 30, 2007 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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