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Three boys missing from counselors
By Craig
Britton
Through with
work, through with school, do the evening
workout, and get ready for bed.
Then the phone
rings, it's the right time late; it's that
familiar voice on the other end, Larry Roland, my
call captain; informing me that we have another
night hike beneath the stars to look forward to.
All he knows
is that it is for three boys who are missing from
their camp out of Skunk Cabbage Meadow.
Fill up the
water bottles and start rolling, ten miles down
the road and the pager goes off just as I am
passing two tractor trailers and cannot hear a
thing. Hmm, wonder if it's the call out or a
cancellation. Better stop and call. It's a real
drag driving to Idyllwild and discovering you
should be back in bed doing something better.
It's not a cancellation. Onward and upward.
The turn out
was slim, so Bernie McIlvoy and I would be a
team, our assignment was to hike to the saddle
and then on to search the valley system down to
Caramba. Apparently, I would soon find out what
going to Caramba was all about. Team 2 consisted
of Kevin Walker and Craig Beasley. Their
assignment was to hike in to the group's camp
some where near Skunk Cabbage, and gather more
information, and then search outward. As we were
hiking in, more information was passed up by
radio. Our three missing youths did not have
jackets, and they were wearing Nike running
shoes. Also the three boys 14, 15, and 16 years
old were from an Optimists Boys home for youths
who are wards of the court.
Sounds like a
real fun bunch. just before reaching the saddle,
we met one of the counselors who was hiking out.
After asking some questions, we found that one
boys had a jacket, other wise, no good news.
We continued
on to the saddle, and then to Tahquitz Valley.
From there we searched down the drainage. At 3:00
a.m. Kevin and Craig had located the group's
camp. There they reported that the group had not
heard or seen anything, and that they were going
to get a little sleep before continuing on.
Bernie and I decided to go on a little further
before stopping for a little shut-eye.
We had been
calling out while searching but had got no
response to our yells. As we reached Laws Camp,
we stopped and gave a shout. A response?? We
thought so. A second shout, and again an answer.
We hiked towards the calls and whistles. Sure
enough, at 4:30 we located Carlos Millan, Fred
Miranda, and Daniel Kelly. Funny thing about it
was they all had jackets, and none were wearing
Nike running shoes (good info?). We then started
a fire to warm them, and also placed them in
sleeping bags. With the fire going, I went for
water and Bernie just turned his back to them for
a minute, but with his back turned they
scooted closer to the fire. When I returned I
found my bag burnt in one section and Bernie's
insolite burnt at one end. Nice kids, huh? No
apologies, just a lot of cursing and stories of
people they had beaten up or stolen from.
Once daylight
finally arrived, we packed up, and marched the
tough kids (huffing and puffing) back to saddle
junction. Soon after, Kevin, Craig and one of the
counselors walked up to take control of the
lovely kiddies. Then down to Idyllwild and a big
breakfast.
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