By Mary O’KEEFE

Anyone who follows Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. Montrose Search and Rescue team on social media may have noticed an almost constant stream of incident responses especially over the weekend.

“Our numbers are substantially up from last year, and that was a record breaking year,” said Sgt. John Gilbert, LASD Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station.

The number of calls MSAR has responded to through July 31 is 102; at the same time last year the number of call-outs was 81, Gilbert added.

This increase appears to be in part due to COVID-19. More people are finding new ways to spend their time in a socially distanced way. Several of those who are exploring the Angeles National Forest (ANF) have never been there before hiking or driving the twisting roads. Gilbert said the MSAR team has noticed more visitors, not necessarily through rescues but because it patrols the area on weekends and team members are often stopped by people asking questions.

“They may not have been in the [ANF] before and are not sure of the layout. They don’t know they won’t get [cellphone] service, or how to get to the place they are looking for … [Some] are there for the first time and not prepared to be in the forest to hike or to drive,” he said.

The roads along the Angeles Crest Highway are full of twists and turns, and rocks often fall onto the road from the cliffs.

The increase in the number of calls-outs was even more evident during the first few minutes of this CVW interview, which was cut short when Gilbert and the team received a call to help injured hikers. Gilbert responded to the call and several hours later returned to the interview.

“An informant heard someone yelling for help in the distance near [Red Box]. Our team was paged out, and we responded along with LA County Fire Station 82 and 19,” Gilbert said.

Air support also responded. As Gilbert was driving to the location one of the two hikers eventually made it to a nearby parking lot. He was suffering from a heat-related illness, Gilbert said.

The second hiker was not able to make it to the parking lot; she was also suffering from a heat-related illness. LA County Fire Copter 18 was able to conduct the rescue and get her to an ambulance where she and the other hiker were treated.

“They both were exposed to the warm temperatures and the trail didn’t have a lot of shade,” Gilbert said.

Due to the increasing summer temperatures, Gilbert suggests that hikers who want to visit ANF first research the trail they want to hike.

“Try to find a trail with a water source or more shade,” he advised.

He added being prepared is imperative for any hike.

“Some hikers may have adequate [supplies] for a day hike but one wrong turn or [getting off] the trail and you can add seven, eight, nine hours to your hike,” he said. “Among the 102 call-outs has been a mix of everything. In the earlier part of March and April, when the weather was wet and cooler, there were a number of vehicles over the side.”

Some of those drivers may not have driven the Crest before and made turns too quickly.

“In April, May and June there were a lot of injured hikers at May Canyon,” Gilbert said. That canyon has a lot of steep terrain.

“It’s good exercise but steep inclines and some are not prepared for those types of terrains,” he said.

An injured ankle is an issue for hikers who still have a mile or more back to the parking lot where their vehicles are parked. Hikers who are injured have to be able to evaluate their injury, to treat it if possible and, if needed, get help.

“You end up asking yourself how bad is the sprain,” he said. “If you [splint the ankle] with sticks and tape and find you can’t put any weight on it you are in a bad spot. If you’re four miles away from [the parking lot] and you don’t have headlamps you are in a more dangerous situation.”

Gilbert said he and the team are glad that more people are enjoying ANF but want them to be safe as they hike and drive along the Crest.

“We understand with the ongoing pandemic there aren’t a lot of activities for people to enjoy. Many are taking up hiking, backpacking and going on a mountain drive,” he said. “We love they are [enjoying] the outdoors but they should come with a lot of caution and respect for what is in the mountains.”

  Mary Okeefe