Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Mountain Rescue Today Continues Record Streak

Altadena Mountain Rescue Team members, joined by the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team, rescued a 32-year-old man who was stuck in Coyote Canyon Tuesday morning, adding another incident to the record number of seven rescues the team has conducted since February 21, 2016.

The man was visiting from Michigan, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Paige said.

“At about 8 a.m., the Sierra Madre Police Department was notified of a hiker stranded in Coyote Canyon, on top of a dried-up waterfall,” Paige said. “The Sierra Madre Police notified us.”

Both the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue and Altadena Mountain Rescue Team were activated.

Paige said it took them several hours searching at the canyon before locating the stranded man.

Rescuers reached him and lowered the man on a rope down the canyon. The man had to be treated for scratches on his elbows and knees.

“He started off his hike at about 7 in the morning before the nature center opened and he was on a trail run,” Paige related. “He got into the canyon and got to the end, and said ‘well, there’s a trail here, it’s got to go somewhere,’ so he kept on trekking and unfortunately, he got into a position where he could no longer go up or down. So he called for help.”

Paige said they could not use a helicopter because the area was right under a high-voltage power line.

Earlier, Paige said they’ve had a record number of incidents involving people being stuck in the mountain trails or injured, partly because of the increased number of people hiking up the mountains because of the warm and sunny weather.