Montrose Search and Rescue – When Hikers Bit Off More Than They Could Chew

It’s a common mistake. Hikers read about a particular hike, check their maps (“It looks pretty easy!”), and head out for what they estimate will be a “day trip.” But they’re halfway through the hike and it’s getting dark and cold.

Such was the case for eight adult hikers in the summer of 1990. They intended to rappel down a series of 12 waterfalls along Fox Creek, just below Mount Gleason, in the Angeles Forest. It was a full day of hiking but all eight hikers were confident they could make it from their starting point to a pick up spot where someone’s wife waited with a van. When they didn’t show up and darkness fell, the MSAR was called.

Here’s where the team’s preplanning was put to use. Before starting out, they met with the woman who was to pick up the group. She knew their starting point and their intended destination, so the team had a good idea of the search area. She was also able to tell them the equipment the lost hikers had with them. The team now knew that the hikers, although they had some backcountry training, were not clothed properly, didn’t have enough food and the ropes they had were inadequate for rappelling. Reviewing maps, the team found a remote fire road that would put them very close to the first waterfall, trimming off about six hours of hiking.

After midnight, the search began. They found the lost hikers’ fresh footprints heading downstream, so they knew they were on the right track. The team easily rappelled down the first waterfall, about 80 feet of slippery rock-face. They reached the next waterfall, a little steeper, and quickly rappelled it as well. The descent of the second waterfall ended in a chest-deep pool, so they knew the lost hikers would be wet, increasing the chances of hypothermia.

The team continued following footprints downstream to the top of the third waterfall, and that’s where they found the eight hikers. They were cold, wet and exhausted, and really happy to see the rescue team. None of the hikers was injured and it was still dark, so the rescue team passed out blankets and granola bars, and kindled a campfire to wait out the night in relative comfort. At daybreak, the team rallied the hikers, and continued downstream looking for a spot where their rescue helicopter could put down. The rescue team and the hikers descended four more waterfalls, this time with proper equipment and techniques. Just before noon they finally found a clearing for the chopper, and everyone was lifted out.

The team often deals in tragedy, but this event had a happy ending. Because the team researched the rescue before heading off, they were able to reach the hikers before hypothermia took its toll and before the hikers attempted to continue downstream, increasing their chances of falling off the slippery waterfalls. The hikers were grateful for the swift response. They had simply underestimated the time needed for the hike, and they were indeed beginning to worry about hypothermia. In the words of one of the rescuers, “They had simply bit off more than they could chew.” The grateful hikers afterward sent a “care package” to the MSAR made up of the types of supplies the team had used in their rescue.

The MSAR relies on extensive training to carry them successfully through rescues such as this one. They spend literally hundreds of hours each year training in mountaineering and keeping themselves in peak physical condition. Rope work such as they used in this rescue is part of their basic training. They have all the skills of first responders for first aid and stabilizing injuries and knowledge of disease and trauma. As well they are trained in how to think like a lost hiker and how to keep people from panicking under stress.

And they do all of this as volunteers. They receive a paltry $1 a year. Their real pay comes in the form of the satisfaction of saving lives and giving back to our community.

  mike lawler