Two Hikers Stuck on a Cliff
July 27th-28th, 2026
Whitewater Preserve
2026-27
Written by: Eric Holden
July 27th – We received a callout for two hikers that had gotten stuck about 200ft up, on a steep hill near the road heading up to the Whitewater Preserve. The Sheriff’s Aviation unit was able to spot the stuck subjects but unable to rescue them due to high winds. The Riverside Sheriff’s Deputy on the road was able to illuminate the subjects with his spotlight for about an hour. 15 minutes before RMRU arrived on scene the two subjects could no longer be seen in the spotlight. RMRU members hiked up the steep hill to the subjects’ last known position (LKP) but were unable to find them. The team performed callouts and searched for tracks until about 2am but were still unable to locate them.
July 28th – Another team of 4 RMRU members arrived around 6am to begin searching several of the steep canyons around their LKP. We were operating on two possible scenarios, either the hikers were able to self-rescue and never told anyone, or they attempted to get to the road and took a fall down a canyon. Our team searched several very steep and dangerous canyons. Some free soloing and rappelling was involved. No signs of the subjects were found.
It was determined due to how close they were to the road, they most likely self-rescued and due to possible outstanding warrants for their arrest, didn’t stick around to speak with law enforcement.
RMRU Members Involved: David Bever, Alex Cochran, Matt Frenken, Eric Holden, Dave Kosmal, Jeffrey Leisner, and William Pendleton
Other Agencies Involved: Riverside Sheriff’s Aviation Unit