The callout for a search for a missing hiker in the Mt.
Baldy area came in around 1900, just as we were beginning classroom training on
Map & Compass. Everyone packed up
and left the station, most to head home for their equipment and return for the
rigs. All three vehicles departed the
station around 2000 with 5 members. Other
members were in route from Station 12, and several were responding POV. Staging was established at Baldy Fire.
More details were provided as we checked in at the
station. Three young men had hiked
Cucamonga Peak together, but after splitting up on descent only two had
returned. The lost hiker had last been
seen descending the switchbacks above the Cucamonga saddle. We had a name, description, clothing etc.,
plus something a little unusual - a printout from the internet of the subject's
shoes, including the sole. The pattern
was distinctive, and would prove to be the most important piece of info made
available for the search.
Three two-man teams were originally dispatched and sent by
helicopter to Cucamonga Peak. The first
two teams, arriving within 10 minutes of each other, joined up and began
descending toward the saddle and then Ice House. Team 1 would cover Ice House Canyon, while Team 2 was assigned
the trail north to Middle Fork. Team 3
headed down the east side of Cucamonga toward Joe Elliot.
Within 20 minutes of departing the summit the lead tracker
for the combined Team 1 - 2 had identified a footprint nearly identical to the
picture provided of the subject's shoe.
The combined team
proceeded down trail, regularly confirming track and searching up and down slope
with headlamp and flashlight. Attempts
to contact the missing subject by voice and whistle were made almost
continuously with no success. Track was
maintained, with the distinctive print appearing regularly, all the way down
the switchbacks for roughly the next hour until it was lost just short of the
saddle above Cucamonga Canyon.
Backtracking, the last identifiable sign was confirmed about 50 yards up
trail from the saddle. A pair of
footprints could clearly be identified; perpendicular to the trail and facing
down the canyon, as though the subject had stood there thinking about a
detour. The teams returned to the
saddle and contacted the command post with the information and a conclusion -
the subject might have left the trail and headed down the canyon. This assumption was supported by the lack of
prints, which had been fairly regular on the trail, at the saddle and on the
trail to Ice House.
CP confirmed with instructions - Team 1 would continue on
the trail searching for sign and the subject, while Team 2 would proceed off
trail down Cucamonga Canyon. Team 3
would abandon their original assignment, having found no sign of the subject,
and proceed in the same direction as Team 1.
Teams 1 and 3 would eventually reach the IH Canyon trailhead after a
thorough search of IH Canyon and Chapman Trail.
Team 2 began their assignment in Cucamonga Canyon around
midnight, entering the canyon from the location of the last set of identified
prints and negotiating their way down a moderately steep slope. Concentrating on likely track traps, Team 2
located a descent print within 45 minutes.
Finding the print, a surprising stroke of luck in the dark in the wide canyon,
seemed to confirm that the subject had indeed left the trail in daylight and
gone down canyon, perhaps thinking he was cutting the switchbacks to catch up
with his companions. Confirming the
find with the CP, Team 2 set out looking for more prints or sign as they
proceeded down canyon. They would find
nothing for 6 hours.
Picking their way down the canyon, Team 2 saw evidence of
recent travel in the canyon but no prints and nothing that could definitively
be attributed to the subject. The wide
rocky canyon narrowed, and a stream eventually appeared. Travel was slow, steep in many areas with
poor footing. The biggest concern was
the possibility, assuming the subject had indeed continued down the canyon,
that Team 2 would simply miss a sleeping or unconscious subject in the dark
canyon. Attempts to locate the subject
by voice and whistle were made continuously as the team proceeded. The team made hourly contact with CP,
reporting position by UTM but no success in locating any sign of the
subject. Around 0530, after covering a
little over a mile, the team called a stop to rest and await daylight. A brief nap on the rocks and the team continued
at dawn, lamps no longer necessary.
Amazingly, within 20 minutes Team 2 had located another set of prints,
very distinct in damp sand near the stream on the canyon floor. This encouraging sign seemed to indicate
that the subject was down there, still ahead of Team 2 and proceeding toward
the falls about 2 miles below the saddle.
It was agreed with CP that Team 2 would proceed to the falls, which
would, it was assumed, prevent the subject from proceeding any further.
At this point the canyon had leveled but was becoming more
difficult to negotiate. The stream was
larger, and the canyon floor was overgrown with brush following recent
fires. Fallen trees created foot
hazards and made for slow travel, and repeated stream crossings were
necessary. With daylight, 40 King was
soon operating and, after briefing at Cow Canyon Saddle was searching the
canyon above the falls and ahead of the still advancing Team 2. Communicating on the same frequency as CP
and Team 2, 40 king announced around 0830 that they had located a subject just
1/4 mile down canyon from Team 2.
Within 30 minutes Team 2 had made contact and confirmed the subject's identity. He was uninjured and in good spirits, having
ended his trek down the canyon the prior evening and camping not far from where
he was located that morning. Wet from
the stream he had attempted a fire, with little success, and then managed some
sleep through the night.
Fortunately for both the subject and Team 2, 40 King
reported a possible LZ just 100 feet up the slope from the subject. After refueling, the helicopter returned to
extract first the subject and then Team 2 from a ridge above the falls back to
Cow Canyon. Transport down the hill to
CP at Baldy Fire, and the rescue was concluded. The subject was taken by friends to join his parents, and Team 2 headed
home for some sleep!
Postscript
Lessons Learned - tracking works! A distinctive print helps, but tracking the subject down the
heavily traveled trail from Cucamonga Peak was quite a feat. And actually finding prints in the dark canyon
was nothing short of amazing! Identifying
the track allowed the search to be concentrated and the subject found quickly.
For hikers - STAY TOGETHER for goodness sake! And under no circumstances leave a perfectly
good trail, especially for a place like Cucamonga Canyon, no matter how promising
it might look at the time. And finally,
please, when you realize you may be lost - STOP WALKING! We will never catch you if you keep going,
unless something stops you. And most of
the things that might force you to stop are not good. We'd much rather find you sitting patiently on a rock than at the
bottom of a cliff. And if you aren't
walking you might just hear us calling your name. The longer you keep moving, the longer you stay lost!
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