Sierra Madre Search and Rescue's June Log

Yesterday we posted an account of the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue's 17 hour day on June 29 and June 30.  Below is the full June log of all rescues the group did, which include those.

Injured Hiker, First Water Trail, Chantry Flat:  On June 13th at 3:15 p.m., SMSR was paged for a cliff rescue at Chantry Flat.  The team was joined by the Sierra Madre Fire Department and Los Angeles County Fire to rescue a hiker who had fallen off the trail and was stranded in steep terrain above the canyon bottom.  SMSR personnel quickly established a high angle rope rescue system and sent rescuers approximately 120’ over the side to access the hiker.  After determining that his injuries were minor, rescuers used the rope rescue system to lower the hiker and rescuers the remaining (approx.) 150’ feet to the canyon bottom.  The rescue was completed at 5:40 p.m.

Search, Thousand Palms, Riverside County: SMSR was requested at 9 p.m. on June 29th by the California Office of Emergency Services (OES) for a mutual aid call in Riverside County to assist in the search for a missing hiker.  Daytime temperatures in the area were 120 degrees and officials planned to run search operations through the night.  SMSR personnel responded and were deployed on initial search assignments by 11:30 p.m.  Field crews worked throughout the night looking for the missing 71 year old hiker.  The man was located mid-morning on the 30th, but unfortunately had not survived the conditions.  The team expresses our condolences to his family and friends.

Multiple Calls, Chantry Flat, Mount Wilson Trail and Eaton Canyon:  June 30th would turn out to be a busy day for SMSR with a series of operations taking place throughout the day.  The first call for the day came at 11:30 a.m. with reports of a hiker stranded over the side of the trail below Chantry Flat.  A high angle rescue was executed to get the uninjured hiker back to the trail.  As the rescue was concluding, SMSR received a request from Altadena Mountain Rescue (AMRT) to assist them in the search for two hikers who were lost in the Mount Wilson area and reportedly suffering from dehydration and exhaustion.  Due to limited information about the specific location of the hikers, search crews were dispatched to multiple locations to hike the trails and locate the subjects.  Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies were able to locate the hiker’s car near the trailhead at Cobb Estates and teams began to focus their efforts in that area.  While search crews were redeploying, a rescue call in Eaton Canyon was dispatched and 7 personnel from SMSR responded to Eaton Canyon to assist in the rescue of 3 hikers stranded near the 2nd waterfall.  SMSR joined LA County Fire and LASD’s Air Rescue 5 on the incident.  Two of the subjects were hoisted from their location by Air 5  and the third subject was lowered by rope rescue system to the canyon bottom by SMSR.  The subjects were uninjured and escorted out of the canyon.  During the Eaton Canyon rescue the missing Mt. Wilson hikers were successfully located.  One of the hikers was transported to the hospital for treatment.  The operations were secured by 4:30 p.m.

Combined with the search in Riverside County, SMSR was in continuous operation for 17 hours on the 29th and 30th.

Missing Hiker, Inyo County:  SMSR assisted with the continued search for a hiker missing since October 2012 in the Sierra near Independence.  The hiker’s camp was located along with evidence that he died nearby during the fierce winter storm that trapped him 7 miles from his car.

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For over 60 years the all-volunteer Sierra Madre Search and Rescue team has been responding to calls for help in the local mountains and beyond. Funded entirely by private donations, SMSR provides a range of public programs on wilderness safety in addition to its search and rescue activities. The Team never charges for any of its services.

For more information, including how to arrange a wilderness safety demonstration for your school or group, visit www.smsr.org.