Iron Mountain Mutual Aid
July 19th, 2026
San Gabriel Mountains, CA
2026-025
Written by: Andy Hayt
On July 19, 2026 four RMRU members responded to the East Fork trailhead in the San Gabriel Mountains to assist with the search for a missing hiker who was last seen on the Iron Mountain trail. We were inserted by a Blackhawk helicopter from the Army National Guard’s 1-140th Aviation Regiment onto a ridgeline to search an extremely steep, loose drainage heading downhill from the area where the hiker was last seen.
Following several hours of searching the drainage, we exited the search area and hiked back up to the ridgeline, where we were extracted by CHP’s H-50 helicopter. Our team did not locate any sign of the subject in our search area. The search concluded at approximately 1500 hours and all teams exited the field.
RMRU Members Involved: Trygve Anderson, Nathaniel Desforges, Andy Hayt, Will Pendleton
Other Agencies Involved: San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team, Montrose Search and Rescue Team, Santa Clarita Valley Search & Rescue Team, Altadena Mountain Rescue Team, Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team, Malibu Search and Rescue Team, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, CA SAR, San Bernardino Mountain Search and Rescue Team, Ventura County East Valley Search and Rescue Team, California Army National Guard, California Highway Patrol