Lost 43 year old man out of campground
By
Henry Negrete
Boulder
Basin is a beautiful camp-ground nestled high
atop Black Mountain in the San Jacinto Range.
RMRU has held training in the area in the past;
all of use love the campground, none of us like
the long switch backing road used to get there.
At
approximately 6:00 p.m., RMRU was called to make
this trip to search for a 43 year old man who had
gone for a day hike with his wife and not
returned. Daylight was soon to leave us, so we
rushed up the steep dusty road.
As we
gathered in the campground, we quickly set up
base and scoured the ground around his campsite
to try and isolate any good shoe prints he may
have left behind which might enable us to match
them in the field and track him down. With good
shoe print information in hand, RMRU deployed
several teams covering all nearby trails and
drainages.
Tracking
became increasingly difficult because of the
steepening terrain on the north slopes of the
mountain, and travel was made more dangerous
because of nightfall.
Juliane
Christinson and I were assigned the western
perimeter leading north down into the main
drainage.
The
late hours of night soon turned into the wee
hours of the morning as we worked our way down
the mountain side. We could soon see the lights
of Cabazon off in the distance, and looking back
into the darkness deep in the canyon, we could
make out faint lights of scattered residences.
Suddenly
our eyes fixed on an amber light well below which
seemed to be twinkling. At first we thought it
might be another search team with a mini strobe
light, but after checking via radio with other
teams, none of them were in that area. It was
apparent that it might be a campfire. So Juliane
and I requested a team to drive around the
mountain and attempt to reach the fire from the
bottom.
When
we saw the bottom team (consisting of Ron Ackert
and Jason Beeman) approaching, we gave them
coordinates to direct their way. Each time the
bottom team tried to get close they were stopped
by huge, thick walls of brush. After many vain
attempts to reach the campfire, the bottom team
prepared a helispot so we could bring in a
helicopter at first light. The CHP helicopter
stationed in Thermal California was available to
assist us.
As
the bottom team worked to prepare the heli-spot,
I decided that I would hike further down the
canyon and attempt to make voice contact with the
keepers of the campfire.
Well,
to make a long story short and to convey a lesson
well learned, the campfire turned out to be that
of the subject. He was in okay shape, and
gratefully accepted a helicopter ride out of his
predicament. As for me, I wound-up finding out
just how thick the brush actually was, wishing
all the while that I had brush clearing tools
with me.
I
spent quite a while working my way to a clearing
large enough for helicopter pickup. By then all
other teams had been picked up by helicopter or
able to hike back to base.
All
ended well, the subject learned about the
importance of having a map on hand, and I now
always carry a machete in my pack.
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