[pct-l] Re: Hikers Rescued thanks to Cell Phone

[Lonetrail at aol.com (Lonetrail@aol.com)]

In a message dated 1/9/2005 9:36:06 AM Pacific Standard Time, Lonetrail  
writes:

 
Hikers  recall near-death trek through snowy forest

By Quintin Cushner -  Staff Writer
1/6/05 As they trudged through thigh-high snow in Los Padres  National
Forest, with too little clothing for the weather, Joel Degner  and
Nathan Krier knew they had to keep moving.

The two Santa Maria  men, who were suffering from severe cold and
exhaustion, feared they  would die if they stopped.

Their ordeal, which they recounted  Wednesday, began Tuesday morning as
a carefree hike into the forest to  spot some waterfalls. It ended late
that night with the pair being  rescued and taken to a hospital by
helicopter.

"My biggest fear is  dying alone in the wilderness," Degner said. "We
knew we had to at least  make it to the road so we would be found."

Degner, 22, and Krier, 24  - buddies from their years at Righetti High
School - started out at the  Cachuma Saddle, about 10 miles east of
Santa Ynez, and walked along  McKinley Road.

After several hours, they decided to get off the road  and hike down to
the Manzana River. Using maps compiled by Degner, the  two followed the
river to the east before taking the unmaintained Big  Cone Spruce trail
up to McKinley Mountain.

To the men's dismay,  the trail was covered with about three feet of snow.

"It felt like  the longest hike," Krier said. "I was just trying to
conserve and keep  warm."

The men took three hours to travel about a mile through the  snow at an
elevation of about 5,000 feet.

Degner was wearing  shorts, and because his bare legs were numbed by
the snow, he often lost  his balance. Both men said they fell into
sharp bushes and shrubs along  the rugged trail.

The cell phone they carried didn't work in the  forest canyons. Their
only hope, they believed, was to find reception on  a road near the
mountain's ridge so they could call for help.

When  they did reach the road connecting McKinley Mountain back to
Cachuma  Saddle, both were exhausted and very cold. Degner was almost
incoherent,  suffering from severe hypothermia - a potentially fatal
lowering of the  body's core temperature.

Luckily, their cell phone worked. They  dialed 9-1-1 about 8:30 p.m.,
and walked slowly down the road to stay  warm while help arrived.

Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue team  members responded, and
were able to drive through mud and snow to find  the hikers about 9:40
p.m.

Once they were located, the search and  rescue team directed a
helicopter from Ventura County to airlift Degner  and Krier to Goleta
Valley Cottage Hospital.

Degner's temperature  at the hospital was measured at 90 degrees, while
Krier's was 96. Both  were released early Wednesday. The two said they
were grateful to the  emergency personnel who saved their lives.

"They hiked a long way in  very cold conditions," said Nelson Trichler,
Search and Rescue incident  commander. "If (Degner) didn't have his
cell phone it wouldn't have been  a rescue. It would have been a (body)
recovery."

Degner, a recent  UCSB graduate, and Krier, a student at Chaminade
University in Honolulu,  said they likely would hike again soon.

"Next time, maybe we'll be  more prepared, more ready for the
unexpected," Krier  said.