The local California Department of Parks and Recreation was busy Saturday, July 26. A ranger and aides from Mt. San Jacinto State Park performed two rescues — a 25-year-old female from Huntington Beach and two juvenile females from Pico Rivera.

The first effort started around 3:30 p.m. when the park office was notified that a hiker was calling for help below Notch Five of the Desert View Trail. A search for this hiker began immediately and she was located before 4 p.m.

“The stranded hiker did not know how to hike back to safety without help. The rescuers assisted the subject through heavy vegetation, on a hillside with larger granite boulders and loose footing, to safety with the use of specialized rescue equipment,” according to the press release from Todd Friedman of the state parks.

By 6:30 p.m. the park’s peace officer was notified that two juveniles were missing. Another search commenced.

According to the mother of one of the kids, “she let her daughter and daughter’s friend walk down the walkway that leads from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway’s mountain station down into Long Valley (a wilderness area). The mother did not know if the juveniles planned to hike, once in Long Valley, or set up a time when they should return back to the mountain station,” Friedman reported.

Both were found about 8 p.m. on the Desert View Trail still in Long Valley.