Stranded Scouts

Written by Shani Pynn

At roughly 8:00 PM on Friday the team was called out to help three hikers stranded on Suicide Rock in the Deer Springs trail area on Mt San Jacinto. We were directed to meet at the Deer Springs trailhead. As it was myself and Michael responding, I picked him up on the way. We rode out to the trailhead by way of the Hemet station to fetch some radios. We reached the trailhead just before 10:30 PM and were briefed by Deputy Waters, who was on scene, as to the current situation.

Our three subjects, Boy Scouts, had hiked to Suicide Rock, but had reported someone throwing rocks at them and were not comfortable in their current situation. Their location had been verified by Star 9 and adjusted by Deputy Devin, who had hiked in from Humber Park. He had gotten to a point where he could communicate with them but couldn’t reach them without climbing gear. We input their reported location into our GPS units. The subjects were in phone contact with the Deputies and reported being cold. So, Michael and I packed up some warm clothing and headed up the trail.

As we hiked, we checked in with Deputy Waters at base every half hour or so. Roughly 2 hours later, at around 1 am, we arrived at our destination and contacted the boys. They were a bit cold, and frazzled from their day, but not too worse for wear. There were also four of them, which was an interesting development. We checked with the fourth boy to make sure his family knew where he was and what was going on.

The four of them perked up with some food and extra warmth and we were all ready to head back in a few minutes. The boys, now feeling much better, led the way back down the trail. They were able to find it quite well in the dark and did a great job of keeping an eye on each other during the hike back. We arrived back at the vehicles just before 3 am. After a quick chat with the deputies, the boys headed back home to their families and Michael and I headed back home as well.

Rescuers and Subject at Base
Photo by RSO Deputy Waters.

RMRU Members Involved: Michael George and Shani Pynn.