On Saturday, a female hiker, who had injured her ankle in the area of Wellman’s Divide Trail, near Idyllwild, needed a helicopter to get off the mountain.
About noon on Saturday, Feb. 11, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was advised that the hiker required medical assistance and could not continue hiking. Two state park rangers from the Long Valley Ranger station began the search. Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit and the Sheriff’s aviation unit were called out and joined the search for the injured hiker.
According to Garrett Aitchison, sector superintendent for Mt. San Jacinto State Park, park rangers were the first to find the injured hiker’s location. They waited with her until RMRU and Desert Search and Rescue members relieved them. Weather and terrain prevented an immediate airlift. Rescuers kept the hiker warm through frigid winter temperatures until Sunday morning when a CALFIRE helicopter airlifted the injured hiker at 8:20 a.m. She was transported to Desert Regional Hospital for medical treatment.