Sierra Madre Search and Rescue

On the evening of Saturday, April 6th search and rescue crews were dispatched to the San Gabriel mountains near Mount Baldy, to search for two overdue hikers, Eric Desplinter and Gabrielle Wallace. On Wednesday, April 10th a crew from the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team found the footprints that turned the “search” operation into a “rescue.”

Sierra Madre had been assisting the San Bernardino County West Valley Search and Rescue Team since Monday, sending searchers each day to comb the Cucamonga Peak area. Search crews also responded from San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, and Kern Counties.

Throughout the search, high winds prevented helicopters from inserting search teams. As a result, teams had to hike several miles uphill to start their search assignments each day. Because of the time spent hiking to and from the search area, it was decided on Tuesday to request crews that could spend the night in the field. On Wednesday, one crew from Sierra Madre and another crew with members from China Lake Mountain Rescue and West Valley Search and Rescue took overnight assignments.

The Sierra Madre crew was prepared to work through the night, traverse snow and ice, negotiate waterfalls and navigate long rappels through a canyon. Along with their standard equipment they carried ice axes, crampons, sleeping bags, bivy sacks, food, 400 feet of rope and wetsuits. They were heavy packs. One rescuer said, “I think ‘slog’ was the word of the day.”

Their assignment was to search Cucamonga Canyon. One rescuer said when they stood at the top of the canyon, “It looked inviting. You can see the city in front of you, but you can’t see the 85 foot waterfall between you and the exit at the bottom.”

Although Cucamonga Canyon is on a south facing slope free of snow and ice, it’s rough terrain. Rescuers described an “ocean of rock” with crumbling footing, and uneven, unstable terrain.

Late in the afternoon the crew found a clear bootprint. Since they were far from any trails, this was significant. Soon they found a second set of fresh tracks heading down canyon, which they followed for over a mile. They reported this information to the command post, and a helicopter was launched to fly the canyon to look for the missing couple.

The rescuers described listening anxiously to the radio traffic from the helicopter. At first the helicopter crew reported spotting a campfire and two people, but it wasn’t until they confirmed they were alive that the rescuers celebrated. One rescuer recounts, “If the water in the river weren’t so loud, I’m sure they would’ve heard our screams of celebration down in the command post.”

After Eric and Gabrielle were hoisted out of the canyon and flown back to the command post, both overnight search crews were also extracted by helicopter.

As a long standing Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team member explained, “Search and rescue calls can often be pretty routine, but every few years you get a call that tests the limits. These are the calls where all the training pays off. ALL of the teams and personnel involved in this search made this happen.”

While it is always incredibly rewarding to be on the crew that finds the missing hikers, Sierra Madre would like to recognize all the other search and rescue volunteers who helped bring this search to a happy ending. It is always great to work with neighboring teams and pitch in to the collective effort to bring the lost people home!