Search/Rescue Op July 13, 2011

Similiar to our last posting, two stranded hikers were rescued on Wednesday night after getting stuck on Tom Sloan Ridge. The two intended to finish off with a shuttle and parked a vehicle at the Millard Campground parking lot. They began their hike at Switzer's off Angeles Crest Highway just past the Clear Creek Ranger Station. They hiked down the Arroyo and into Bear Canyon. Before the fires, the trail wasn't in too bad of shape. However, since then with the lack of foot travel, overgrowth, and any damage caused by the fires, the two lost the trail and were forced to climb up the side of the canyon wall. They did make it to the top which put them on Tom Sloan Ridge and soon they hiked to the saddle. At that point, the hikers stated that the trail was in terrible shape and became tired and unsure of continuing. They called for help. Altadena Mountain Rescue was notified of the two lost hikers at 10:38pm. Our point of entry was the upper gate to the Mt. Lowe Fire Road off of Chainey Trail. Two units were in the field. Unit One began the drive up the fire road while Unit Two stayed back at the gate to provide additional support if needed. During this time, Unit Two stayed in cell phone contact with the missing persons via text messages. Getting through on the phone was "iffy" however, texts work quite well. This helped greatly in that they were able to state when they were able to see our lights and gave us their position in relation to where we were. The road becomes impassable due to rock fall up high. Unit One continued to move forward on foot and made contact with the missing persons soon after. They had no injuries and were escorted back to our vehicle and driven back down. The two were released at their parked vehicle. The op went well!