Pine Springs Ranch Stuck Hikers

September 4, 2016
San Jacinto Mountains
2016-037

Written by Judy Spowart

Around 5:30pm on Sunday evening I received a call from Gwenda that I needed to head to the Hemet-Ryan airport for a rescue. Three hikers, two adults and one child, had been hiking around the Pine Springs Ranch area when they ran out of water. They were very familiar with the area, however, once the water ran out they started to experience physical symptoms (e.g. leg cramps) and could not continue.

Upon arriving at the airport, I boarded the helicopter with Glenn who had arrived before me. We knew the hiker’s general location, but had to fly over a few times before finally spotting them. Due to their location in a rocky, brushy area, it was not immediately clear whether a hoist or hover-step would be the best way to get them out. We finally decided that the pilots would drop Glenn and I off on a large rock directly above the hikers. Once we stepped out of the helicopter it was just a short climb down to where the hikers were. We decided that I would take the child and one adult on the first pass, which would allow me to escort the two subjects to the waiting medical personnel. I then waited in the landing area for the helicopter to return with Glenn and the other adult subject. Once all three subjects were on the ground and being evaluated by medical staff, Glenn and I boarded the helicopter around 7:30pm and headed back to Hemet Ryan.

RMRU Members Involved: Glenn Henderson and Judy Spowart.