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Two 10-year-old boys missing from camp
By Jim Fairchild
Nigori
Malmquist of Anaheim, and Jay Byrum of Escondido,
both age ten, were following a compass bearing of
220 degrees, magnetic or true, I don't know. They
proceeded far beyond their intended, destination,
a flag, and on up into the timber, rocks and
brush to a point near the trail that goes to San
Jacinto Peak from Humber Park (6400' el.) and
Saddle Junction (8100' el.). Dusk stopped them
finally, and they put up their tube tent on a
rocky ridge formation and waited, occasionally
calling out and looking around.
Meanwhile, back at their camp at
about 8000'el., 400'above Willow Creek Crossing,
they were missed earlier in the afternoon. A
search by leaders was undertaken, unsuccessfully,
and an informant hiked out to alert the Banning
Sheriff Office a bit after 8:00 pm. RMRU was
called at about 9:00 pm and we headed for
Idyllwild to start the search.
The group from
which the boys disappeared were from Pine Springs
Ranch, a youth camp in the Apple Canyon area
north of Hurkey Creek. Two groups had undertaken
a three day hike from Humber Park to the Palm
Springs Aerial Tramway, with practice in
orienteering and wilderness living. Obviously,
the two missing boys were in the former group.
By 11:30 pm we
were hiking, having had some delays in waiting
for information. We knew the boys were clothed,
had a pack with water, lunch, whistles, and
compass, but no word on footgear/ footprint - the
most crucial piece of knowledge we could obtain.
Kevin Walker and Joe Erickson started up the
trail first, John Dew (to function as relay from
a point above Saddle Junction), Craig Britton and
the writer, then Pete Carlson and Mark Rhoads,
Walt Walker was at base as Operations Leader,
with Mary Bowman as Base Camp Operator. Rick
Pohlers arrived later, but had no partner to hike
in with.
Following a
brisk hike to Saddle Junction, we re-grouped for
our assignments. Kevin and Joe to get more
information from leaders at the camp; Pete and
Mark to search the nearby meadows and camps, then
head for Law's Camp (2 miles distant), and even
Caramba (4 miles distant); John to his relay
position; Craig and the writer up the northward
trail toward Wellman's Cienega (9000' el.).
Pete had just
returned from a rather fast ascent of Mt.
Williamson (14,284'el.) in the High Sierra, the
writer from a rather warm ascent of Mt. Whitney
(14,496' el.). Joe's easily dislocated little toe
was still quite loose, but he promised to keep
his boots on. But, like Walter Mitty's imaginary
heroes, we managed to hobble along quickly, into
the cooling breezes.
Craig and I
immediately found numerous footprints, going both
up and down the trail, and about the size a ten
year old should wear. We yelled, the other teams
yelled, and we all asked, by radio, if the other
had yelled. Well, our ears were working. We then
agreed to radio to the other teams when we
planned to yell. We yelled again, and Craig
thought he heard a faint reply. So, we tried
again at the next switchback, with no response. A
few more switchbacks and two hundred feet
elevation above the saddle, about two thirds of a
mile along, we yelled again, loudly. Two young
voices answered and we elatedly radioed all units
the good news. Craig took off up through the
shoulder-high thorny deer-brush, and I followed,
clad in shorts. After 150 yards of this we saw
the boys on a rocky place. Soon we had them
warming in garments, insolite, and bivvy cover.
Craig fired up his stove, and after M & M's
and dried fruit, they ate Top Ramen soup. Along
with eating they explained their activities that
led to their getting lost. Seems they had a
compass and no map. I asked them to point where
they "knew" camp should be, and the
pointed exactly 180 degrees from the proper
direction. Hmm, it never fails. Anyway, they were
just cold and anxious, certain they could find
their way back after sunup.
After warming and eating, Craig and
I got them started down the trail (it was found a
hundred yards away, reached by a brushiess
approach - the boys had no idea they were near a
trail), and we whizzed down to the saddle. There,
Craig sped off to Humber Park and his mornings
work, Pete and John waited, and Mark and I
hustled Nigori and Jay back to their camp. Once
there I had "forceful" words for the
leader about sending youngsters off into the
forest alone, tempered by saying the boys
performed well once they discovered their plight.
We then, with Kevin and Joe, got a couple hours
sleep, then hiked out in the coolness of morning,
commenting that the mountains are still
beautiful. One of the boys, Jay, said, "I
think that next year I'll sign up for 'Wilderness
Living' instead of orienteering."
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