On Feb. 23, the California Department of Parks and Recreation rescued two lost hikers in Mt. San Jacinto State Park.
At about 4:30 p.m., State Parks received a phone call from two male hikers, ages 51 and 39, both from Indiana. The hikers said that they had taken the Palm Springs tram to Long Valley and then hiked to Mt. San Jacinto Peak.
As they started their descent from the peak, they accidentally headed down the north face, which has no trail. After two hours, they came to an area with a cell signal and called for help.
The Riverside Sheriff’s Aviation Unit located the hikers about 7:15 p.m. in the saddle between Mt. San Jacinto Peak and Miller Peak.
Unable to safely extract the two men, the aviation unit contacted the State Parks Rescue Team, who hiked in and reached the men about 10:30 p.m. Both were uninjured.
The rescue team and the hikers walked to the Long Valley Ranger Station, where they arrived about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, and waited until the Palm Springs Tramway re-opened later that morning to descend to the tram’s parking lot.
The California State Parks would like to remind hikers to have proper hiking equipment, a well-thought-out plan and to stay on the trail.
