Two scared, lost hikers without water and facing a dangerous night on a cold mountain were saved by members of the Altadena Mountain Rescue Team who walked more than an hour for the rescue.
The hikers, a 23-year-old West Hills man and a 24-year-old Winnetka man, called the Altadena Sheriff’s Station at 7:55 p.m. Monday and said they were on a three-hour hike and had become lost. Authorities figured they were in the Switzer Falls area of the Angeles National Forest near Altadena.
Altadena rescue team members plotted the hikers location on a map and the hikers appeared to be on Tom Sloan Saddle, about three-quarters of a mile off the Mt. Lowe Fire Road, according to the Altadena Sheriff’s Station.
The hikers had run out of water and were becoming cold as nightfall set, authorities said.
Two teams of rescuers drove as far as they could on the rough mountain road and then hiked almost a mile on the ridge-line to reach the hikers, taking a little more than an hour to reach them.
When rescuers reached the hikers they said they were part of a four- person hiking group, and had become separated from their two friends they were hiking with, and the location of the friends was not known, authorities said.
Additional rescuers searched for the additional hikers believed to be lost but they were found to be OK and had hiked back to their vehicles on their own, authorities said.
The two rescued hikers were given water and were able to hike out to the rescue vehicles on their own. The rescued hikers were medically cleared by rescue team members and were driven to the sheriff’s Altadena Station.
None of the hikers was injured, authorities said.
—City News Service