On Sunday, May 5, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a report of four hikers in need of rescue. The hikers, from San Diego, Costa Mesa and Los Angeles, became lost near the Tamarack Campground near the Deer Springs and Pacific Crest trails. They used a cell phone that was running low on battery power to call for help.
The call came in around 7 p.m. and the hikers reported they were not dressed for cold weather. RMRU personnel reached the hikers and escorted them to the Ranger Station in Long Valley where they stayed until morning. When morning came, rescue personnel escorted them to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway mountaintop station from which the hikers had begun their hike.
The hikers were uninjured and took the tram down to the desert station.