Rescue on San G

WOW!!!!! This hike had all the makings of a made for TV movie. We had action, adventure, drama and even a reunion scene that would have made a grown man cry. You name it and it was there.

View Fish Creek and San G in a larger map

The hike started out innocently enough; we met at the Mill Creek Ranger Station at 5:30 a.m so we could get an early start to the trailhead for Fish Creek. We left the ranger station at 5:42 a.m and after a brief stop at the restrooms at the South Fork Trailhead on Jenks Lake Rd we arrived at the Fish Creek trailhead at 7:00 a.m. The drawback to getting an early start is the restrooms at the ranger station aren’t open and there aren’t any restrooms at the trailhead, something to keep in mind if anyone who reads this needs it for future reference.

To get to the trailhead you take highway 38 from the ranger station approximately 24 miles to the turnoff for Heart Bar Campground which is on road 1N02. Once you get past the campground it requires a 7 mile drive on dirt road 1N05 to get to the trailhead. There were quite a few cars in the parking area when we got there so apparently a lot of other folks had the same idea. It was a beautiful day and not a cloud in the sky. The sun was shining brightly and it was a cool 60 degrees. We hit the trail at 7:15 a.m. The elevation at the trailhead is 8061’.

The wilderness sign is less than a 100 yards from the parking area so you’re in the wilderness right off the bat, unlike most other trailheads that are usually a mile or so from the trailhead. The trail starts out going slightly downhill for about ½ mile before it comes to the junction for San Gorgonio and Aspen Grove. You stay left on the trail as it heads for Fish Creek Campground approximately 1.6 miles up. I reminded everyone at that point that on the way back to make sure they stayed to the right. The trail to the campground takes you past meadows and areas full of ferns and is really beautiful. You cross over Fish Creek a few times before actually getting to the campground turnoff. We arrived there at 8:10 a.m.

Another ½ mile from there you cross over the creek for the last time. It was there that we found several people camping alongside the creek. They were scattered all the over the place and some had hammocks strung up between trees. There is a sign attached to one of the trees there that says “no camping here”; so much for following the rules. From there the trail becomes exposed for a ways and there was a nice breeze blowing. The scenery is still beautiful but we were no longer in the trees as much as we were before crossing the creek.

We stopped for a break at about 9:10 a.m at elevation 9143’. I was checking out Rick’s new pack while there and he is now totally prepared, right down to the bright red first aid kit hanging off the back. After a short break we hit the trail and as we were climbing we could hear the wind roaring through the trees. It sounded almost like a jet as it came over a ridge and screamed through the big pine trees just below the ridgeline. It sounded pretty cool and I was glad that by the time it reached us on the trail it had slowed down a bit.

As we climbed a little higher we were actually able to see the road that we came in on and a little further up we could see the parking lot where the cars were. We stopped again at about 10:00 a.m at 9578’ and approximately 3.5 miles into the hike. We got our first glimpse of San Gorgonio from here. The wind was really starting to blow as it came down through the draw between the mountains.

We arrived at Fish Creek Saddle at about 10:25 a.m and took a bit longer break there. The saddle is at 9805’ and 4.3 miles from the trailhead. There were several tents set up at the saddle. This is the junction to Lodgepole Springs and Dry lake Camp and a popular campground.

Once you leave Fish Creek Saddle the trail to Mineshaft Saddle and the junction to Mineshaft Flats/Big Tree camp is surrounded by big boulders and lots of dead trees. About halfway to Mineshaft Saddle you can see down into the valley where Dry Lake is and contrary to its name it was far from dry. It looked quite inviting. Mineshaft Saddle is at mile 5.2 and a short distance from there is the junction to Dry Lake and the San Gorgonio Summit at mile 5.4. The elevation there is 9,957’ and we arrived at about 11:20 a.m. We gathered up there before starting up the trail to the summit. By this time we had started getting passed by several groups of Boy Scouts on their way to the summit. Some of them looked like they were going to be doing an overnighter and some were just doing a day trip.

The trail from there is very rocky and hard on the feet and ankles. We passed several areas of thick snow in the ravines that crossed the trail. We continued on until we arrived at the crash site of the C47 that went down in a severe snow storm in December of 1952. They weren’t able to recover the bodies of the 13 service men until May of 1953. There is a plaque there now commemorating the crew. It wasn’t there the last time we did this climb 3 years ago and I’m glad someone finally memorialized the site. We arrived there at about 12:20 p.m and at an elevation of 10,470’. The wreck is almost exactly 1 mile up from the junction. Not too far past the crash site is where the switchbacks begin. There are approximately seven of them to the point where you go around the back side of the mountain. After completing the switchbacks the trail heads slightly downhill until you reach the Tarn. It was at this point that the trail ended at a huge snowfield. The field was about 200 yards wide and Roman had tested the snow pack and found that it was pretty solid and walking through it safely was not an option. I had seen several people working their way around the field by going above it. One guy was walking across the snow by stamping in steps as he came across. He finally made it but it was a stupid thing to do because if he had slipped it would have been a long way down before he would come to a stop. Once we had all gathered up we took a look at the map and Roman worked his magic with my GPS and found that the summit was .25 miles and 500 feet of elevation gain above us. We took a look up the side of the mountain and while it looked a little daunting we had come too far to not at least try it. The decision was made when a couple came down the side and made it look fairly easy. We started the climb up with Rick in the lead and Roman bringing up the rear. Roman was offering everyone encouragement and named us Team Webster. Although it was steep we all switch backed our way up it and about .1 miles up the gradient became less severe and there were rocks that provided stepping stones that aided in our climbing. The first part was a lot of loose sand that caused you to take three steps forward and slide one step back. We just took our time and one by one reached the main trail to the summit where the climbing became easier, as easy as it can be when you’re at 11,500 feet.

By the time we all got to the summit it was 2:40 p.m. The shortcut up the side had saved us about .88 miles. The summit should have been 9.6 according to the map but it ended up being 8.72 according to some calculations I made on my GPS. We sat around and congratulated ourselves on a job well done and took a long, well deserved rest. There were a lot of people at the top and a couple of them had brought kites to fly. I’m not sure what the significance of that was but different strokes for different folks. We had one of the scout leaders take a group picture of us and then we headed back down. It was about 3:20 p.m.

We were kind of concerned about having to descend the side of the mountain we had come up but we all made it down to the trail with the only mishap being Amanda slipping and landing on her butt. I suppose if you have to land somewhere while coming down a steep mountainside that would be the preferred place as opposed to landing at the bottom of the mountain. I stopped on the way down and filled up one of my water bottles with snow just in case I ran out of water between there and the next water source at Fish Creek, a decision I was going to appreciate later down the trail.

Once back on the trail we just put one foot in front of the other with only one thing on our mind and that was to get back to the parking lot. Roman was in the front and with those long legs of his he descends rather quickly. He was followed by Rick and then Hish. I was with Bill, Betty, Mark and Amanda. We reached the start of the switchbacks at 3:52 p.m and the plane crash at 4:38 p.m. I had noticed that Hish had caught up with Rick coming down the switchbacks so with the exception of Roman we were all in sight of each other and I had contact with Roman on the radio.

Betty, Bill, Amanda, Mark and I reached the Dry Lake/San Gorgonio junction at about 5:13 p.m. We were making good time, a little less than 2 hours to travel 3.32 miles. Coming down the switchbacks is really hard on the legs so we were glad to have that part out of the way.

On the way to Mineshaft Saddle Rick called me on the radio and told me that he and Hish had gotten separated and to keep an eye out for him. He said that the last time he had seen Hish was just past the Mineshaft Flats/Big Tree junction. He said Hish had stopped and was looking at his phone when he had last seen him. He assumed Hish was going to take a picture so he kept going thinking that Hish would resume hiking and catch up to him. He called me when he realized Hish hadn’t caught back up. We reached the Mineshaft Saddle at 5:21 p.m and from there on we started looking for Hish. I was in constant contact with Rick but because of all the boulders between the Saddle and Fish Creek Saddle radio reception was sketchy at best. Roman called and said he was at Fish Creek Saddle and would wait for us there. As we hiked we were calling Hish’s name and checking out the side of the trail to see if he had stepped off to take a nature break. Rick arrived at Fish Creek Saddle and joined Roman. Since we still hadn’t seen Hish Roman started back toward us. When we came in sight of Roman and still no Hish we started to get worried. Once we were all together at Fish Creek Saddle we decided to send Bill, Betty, Mark and Amanda on down the trail. Roman stayed at the saddle while Rick and I went back to where Rick had last seen Hish. It is almost a mile back to Mineshaft Saddle and Rick and I made good time going back, while stopping periodically to call Hish’s name and using our whistles to try and get his attention. As we were hiking back a helicopter flew over us and seemed to be heading for Mineshaft Flats. We didn’t know it at the time but it was looking for Hish.

When we arrived at the saddle we tried to call Roman but because of the poor reception we couldn’t reach him. I hiked about a ¼ mile down the Mineshaft/Big Tree trail calling Hish’s name and using my whistle thinking perhaps the sound would carry down into the valley below. After getting no response I hiked back up and then Rick and I headed back to hook up Roman and decide what the next step would be.

Roman had been in search and rescue for years and had a ham radio with him and thankfully still knew how to use it. He had made contact with another ham radio operator who in turn was contacting the sheriff’s department. As we were discussing the situation the ham radio operator came back on and said the sheriff’s department had possibly sighted Hish but the area he was talking about was not where we were.

Things started getting a little confusing at that point because we were getting mixed signals and nothing positive. We decided to head back to Mineshaft/Big Tree trail and head down it. The trail down is 1 mile to Mineshaft Flat and another mile down to Big Tree but it is an out and back trail. We figured we would go all the way down in order to eliminate the possibility that Hish had somehow went in that direction.

There was a lot more discussion between us but I’m just writing down the hi-lites. In the back of my mine through this whole process was what a ranger had told me when Bill got injured on our Whitney trip in 2008. Her accusatory comment to me was, “you’re the leader and you left a man on the mountain”. She didn’t know all the details of what had transpired but those words stung me deep and I wasn’t going to leave until I knew for positive what was going on with Hish. We started the hike down all the while calling Hish’s name and using our whistles. We finally reached a point where we could see out over Mineshaft Flat and saw a helicopter hovering above a small ridge. When I saw the helicopter I tried to get its attention by taking my camera out and using the flash on it. Unfortunately by that time the battery was too low for the flash to work so I got out my headlamp and used it as a signal. I had seen a red light just below the helicopter so I figured that search and rescue was on the ground. By this time it was starting to get dark.

I was still using the whistle and calling Hish’s name when Roman called up at me to stop because it might confuse the searchers. I called Rick on the radio and told him to come down to where Roman and I were because Roman felt we would be better off together. After we got together we continued on down the mountain until we reached a point where we could see three people, two search and rescue folks and one very relieved Hish. We cut the trail so we could get down to them and the first thing Rick did was rush up to Hish and give him a hug hence the happy reunion part of this story that I mentioned at the beginning. It was great see him in one piece.

We introduced ourselves to the search and rescue folks, Barbara Pitiak and Trevor Walton. They were great people and knew what they were doing. Barbara remembered Roman from his time with search and rescue. They were glad to hear we were in good shape and intended to hike back out because I think their plan had been to stay the night down there and walk Hish out the next morning.

This is how it all went wrong. Apparently Hish had stopped to answer his phone and by the time he was done with the call Rick had disappeared from sight. Contrary to what Rick originally thought, Hish had not reached the junction where Fish Creek Trail and the trail to Mineshaft Flats/Big Tree came together. Hish was now in a hurry to catch up to Rick and he just put his head down and started hiking and as a result he completely missed the sign at the junction showing him which way to go. At the junction the trail to Fish Creek Saddle goes up for a ways before going back down and the trail to Mineshaft Flats goes down. Hish knew he was supposed to be going downhill and so that was the way he continued. He knew Rick was pretty far ahead of him and so he hurried along the trail not realizing that he was getting further and further away instead of closer. Mineshaft Flat is just that, a flat area that is pretty barren of ground cover but has several large pine trees. There is sagebrush on the hillside surrounding it but because of the barrenness of the flat itself the trail kind of disappears. Hish said he ran around looking for signs in the trees like the ones he had seen at Fish Creek Saddle that would tell him where he was but there weren’t any. By then he had wandered away from the trail and because of the terrain couldn’t find it again. It was at this point he started to panic a little. He took out his phone and couldn’t get a signal where he was so he climbed up the side of a hill until he came to a point where he got one. It was from there that he contacted 911 and explained his situation. The operator put him in touch with the sheriff’s department and from that point on the search was underway. He told me later that the hill where we had cut trail to get to him was the one he got the signal on. Little did he know that he was mere feet from crossing over the trail that would take him back to safety.

After Hish explained to the best of his ability where he was the sheriff hung up to save the battery on his phone. They called him back when the helicopter was in the air and flying over his position. The helicopter was flying over the summit looking for him but with some guidance from Hish it finally arrived directly above his location and spotted him. He said he had taped his hiking poles together and then taped his jacket to it so he could use it as a signal flag. Barbara told us that Hish was pretty fortunate. First he was able to get a cell signal from where he was and secondly the search and rescue team was having a training session at Heart Bar so instead of taking an hour to respond they were able to within minutes of getting the call. Barbara said that the helicopter that spotted Hish wasn’t certified for mountain work so they called in the second but smaller one that eventually dropped off her and Trevor. It required two trips to get them both there. She told us that she had seen our lights on the side of the hill and when they found Hish they started heading in our direction. They had yelled up at us but with the wind blowing as it was we couldn’t hear them.

After we talked a bit Roman informed the ham radio operator he had been speaking with that Hish had been found and Barbara contacted their base and told them we were heading out. We had a mile climb to get back to Fish Creek Trail and then another 5.2 miles to the trailhead. Barbara was in the lead and Trevor brought up the rear. I was behind Barbara and she is a very energetic person and we talked about everything under the sun and before I knew it we were back at the Mineshaft junction. We stopped for a short break and I took out my jacket as it was getting a little cool. We then hit the trail and as we were walking made contact with some people from search and rescue that were waiting at the Fish Creek Trailhead. They still hadn’t seen Betty, Bill, Amanda and Mark and it was almost 9:30 p.m. I was now getting worried that something had possibly happened to them.

Barbara and I discussed the possibility that they had made a wrong turn at the bottom and taken the trail to Aspen Grove or maybe they had decided to come back up the trail a ways and wait for us. We found out later that they had taken their time coming down but that they had arrived back at the trucks well before dark. When we reached Fish Creek Saddle Barbara identified herself as search and rescue and asked some of the campers there if they had seen the rest of our party. They said that on their way up to the camp they had talked to our group as they passed each other at about 6:30 p.m. Betty had asked them if they had passed Hish at any point on the trail and described him to them. The campers, not knowing who we were described Hish to us and we in turn introduced Hish to them. They gave him a shot of brandy as a reward for being found. Just as we were leaving Fish Creek Saddle Roman tried to call Betty on the radio again and much too all our relief she answered. She said they were at the truck and everyone was fine. She told me later that they had used the On-Star on my truck to call the sheriff’s department and they had been informed that Hish had been found and what our status was. On the way down Barbara kept up a steady stream of conversation and we stopped a few times to see scorpions that she pointed out, put new batteries in Trevor’s headlamp and to wait for Hish, Rick and Trevor to catch up after they lost sight of us at Fish Creek Camp junction and made a wrong turn. I’m thinking to myself at that point, “we lost Hish again, will this never end”.

I was really starting to feel the miles by then so when we were all back together I let Roman get in front of me and the rest of the way down he and Barbara continued with the steady stream of conversation while I tried to stay within ear shot and still keep the group with Hish in sight. We finally got back to the vehicles at 11:50 p.m and were we ever glad to be there. Everyone with the possible exception of Roman and the search and rescue folks were beyond tired. There was a sheriff waiting at the bottom to get some information from Hish and he had been with Betty and the rest of the group keeping them informed of our progress. His name was Paul and he also knew Roman from the search and rescue days and was prepared to give him some grief about losing a hiker. It was a long day for sure, about 16 ½ hours worth as a matter of fact. My GPS showed that Rick, Roman and I had put in about 25 miles that day so I just viewed it as more training under my belt. By the time Betty and I got home it was about 2:30 a.m Sunday morning. I learned a lot on this trip and some mistakes were made but thankfully no one was injured and hopefully the mistakes will better prepare us for the future.