Sheriff’s Office advises caution in winter conditions, begins patrol of off-road vehicle trails with USFS

The March 12 Mountain Area Safety Taskforce (MAST) meeting included a report from Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (RSO) on their activities in local mountain communities. Sergeant Frank James, one of two supervisors for the mountain communities, said that there are always two deputies on duty, with a supervisor present during the day shift. There is also a community service officer available Tuesday through Friday to assist with transporting arrestees and responding to public contact calls where no suspect is at the scene.

These officers cover a large area: from the upper side of Silent Valley into Pine Cove, Idyllwild, and Mountain Center; Highway 74 from Cranston Fire Station through Garner Valley to Pinyon Pines and Vista Point; Highway 371 through Anza, Aguanga, and a portion of Sage. Typically, one car covers Anza, and the other handles the high- country, but both may respond to a call together. The station at Lake Hemet is used for meetings with the public and doing paperwork but is not regularly staffed.

James noted that although RSO normally sees fewer calls during storms, snow brings another set of problems from unprepared visitors and incidents related to snow

play: trespassing, littering, and parked cars blocking roads. RSO has been, in conjunction with the CHP, “posting some additional overtime, especially on weekends… to try to mitigate those issues.”

Sgt. James discussed the March 3 rescue on Tahquitz Peak as an example of why winter conditions demand preparation, for both hikers or drivers. “If conditions are over your head, maybe just avoid the area altogether.” He said that the hikers, ages 25 and 26, attempted Deer Springs Trail to Tahquitz Peak on Saturday. March 1, and were not prepared for the conditions they encountered, nor were they equipped to spend the night. They slipped off an icy trail and fell 700 feet down an ice chute. Volunteers from Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit used a “Stokes Basket” to get them to a place where a helicopter was able to hoist them out. He confirmed that helicopters from RSO, CalFire, Orange County, and LA County Fire authorities were unable to reach the hikers until Monday. One of the hikers was hoisted out by an RSO helicopter, the other by a CalFire helicopter. The CalFire craft was larger and had to land at Palm Spring Airport, where the patient was transferred to an ambulance.

With warmer weather bringing off-road enthusiasts to the trails, RSO has begun policing these dirt roads in concert with the USFS under a grant program. The off road “Green Sticker” vehicle routes have been recently reopened, and Bee Canyon in particular is seeing an influx of users. RSO will be patrolling these roads, and anyone

witnessing problems on the trails, such as vehicles leaving designated routes, should contact dispatch at (951) 776-1099.