Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board A Search and Rescue Story

ericb asks: "Did NOBODY at Trail Camp consider grabbing some water and snacks and heading up and over the switchbacks toward Crabtree to find Olivia? Once David got back to Trail Camp and Olivia wasn't there, it should have been obvious what had happened. Couldn't somebody at TC guess (and they would have been correct) that she was probably no more than three hours' hike away, just waiting to be found?"

Well, the answer at least in part is found in David's story that is in the first post of the thread. At 9:30 in the evening, after getting back to Trail Camp and finding Olivia not there, and it being suggested that she may have gone down the west side, David says: "At this point, I had to make a decision; do I spend the night at Trail Camp, then in the morning hike up the Mount Whitney Trail switchbacks to Trail Crest, down the John Muir Trail switchbacks toward Crabtree Meadows, and to try to find Olivia, or do I hike the six miles back to Whitney Portal that night, where I can phone 'Search and Rescue?' I decided that if Olivia was injured, waiting until the next morning to hike up and down the ridge without adequate food, not having resources to carry her with a broken limb or hypothermia, and not having any idea of her specific location, was too much of a risk. It would be better to get to a phone ASAP and contact the pros."

If I put myself in David's shoes, the hardest part of the whole thing would have been trying to figure out what to do at Trail Camp. It sounds like David didn't realize that SAR wouldn't do anything at night, but even if I knew SAR wouldn't come at night, and even if I could get someone to go over with me to the other side so that they could go back to Portal for SAR if I found her and if she couldn't make it back on her own, and even if I didn't think I was too tired to make it, would I have done that? Or would I have eventually gone down to the Portal, figuring that the odds of rescue were better the sooner that SAR got on the job? I probably would have known SAR wouldn't come out until daylight, so I probably wouldn't have gone down so soon, but if I sent someone else to get SAR, they wouldn't have known Olivia or the situation, and who knows what the SAR response would have been. Given the lack of ability to communicate between the mountain and the real world, I think I would have been in total agony over what to do, I would have wanted to search myself if physically able, I would have wanted to communicate with SAR myself. It would have been horrible to decide.

It sounds like Olivia got off the JMT, so in the end, it sounds like David's decision probably was for the best. It seems highly unlikely to me that there could have been a better outcome if he tried to find her on the west side. There were no great choices for David to make at 9:30 p.m. in Trail Camp. I don't think anyone can say he made a wrong decision there, except maybe he could have waited another 4 or 5 hours since SAR wasn't going to come until light, but in this case, that wouldn't have made any difference anyway.

I think it is a very hard question -- what should one do if one is at Trail Camp in David's shoes? I don't think there is a good answer to that, but David's solution probably worked out as well as anything would have.

I've been able to resist till now, but come on...
GIVE IT A REST

Well, maybe I'm an idiot... But reading this debate has certainly started me thinking about what I would do in a similar situation (member of party disappears), what not to do (instruct members of party not to disappear, although I'd have thought that goes without saying but I guess not), etc., etc., etc.

I'd say what I would have done, but I'm afraid I'll make mtn_clmbr001 scream!

Anyway, it has been educational for me at least. So, if that's the purpose of this bulletin board, then it is being fufilled.

Especially helpful for newbies, I daresay, if only they'd just look at it!

continuing on the theme of what could be done at Trail camp, I'll mention the tremendous resistance of people to ask for help. While it may not have panned out, a LOT of people carry cell phones, now. In fact, in a recent mountaineering trip, one of the participants also was carrying a satellite phone!
It would be reasonable to check with everyone at TC to see if they had one that worked, or would work if one got into a "line of sight" spot. This would have saved the hike out, would have allowed David to get some rest that nite, and to hike back up in the morning, potentially moving the rescue up by 24 hours.
Most people are willing to help. Ask for it.

Not to dwell on this but the second-guessing about David's actions, as well as those of other hikers may be unfair. There are a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks who are trying to unravel this story. I will share a different perspective.

We were in TC on Monday night when this was taking place. There were probably 40 people, including 20 Marines who had come in late. Most of us were to summit on Tuesday and had bedded down early. Afterall, the TC is not a bustling metropolis after it turns pitch black, especially in October. When David came into camp Monday night he asked a fellow hiker for fresh batteries. He gave a rushed account of what might have happened to Olivia. At this time nobody in TC knew anything about her skills, what supplies she had, her hiking experience, ect. David didn't mention what part of the trail which they became separated. He only said that after summiting, she had gone ahead and that he expected to find her at TC. No mention as to where on the trail "she went ahead". At the time we didn't even know David's name. No one knew if she had reached TC and continued (for unknown reasons), or fallen off the switchbacks or whatever. I would say that fewer that four or five people had heard this story until Tuesday morning.

For anyone at TC to immediately summise that Olivia had gone down the west side would have been premature at best.

To think that hikers in TC could instantly form a coordinated ad-hoc search party was out of the question because the details simply were not there yet. David probably had no idea about the operational policies and procedures(nor do most of us) of the local SAR. He simply wanted to find her somewhere along an 11 mile trail.

Surprisingly, even after all of the helicopter activity on Tuesday I would guess that only half of the people at TC had heard about the ordeal by the afternoon when we came off the summit.
The people that did know likely found out because of the flyers that were being dropped in weighted zip-loc bags from the CHP chopper or by word of mouth. One flyer hung on the solar toilet. Believe it or not, some at TC thought the helicopter was filled with sightseers or movie crews. And to be honest, when we first spotted the chopper we thought that maybe it was looking for a fugitive or something similar. Afterall, it was a CHP helicopter and not from the forest service, the military or Inyo County.

When we made it back to the WPS on Wednesday at 11:00am, Doug had his shop closed for supply day. There were no signs at his store nor at the bulletin boards at the trail head. In other words, anybody heading up on Wednesday was probably oblivious to the situation unless they had heard the story in Lone Pine.

This message board now is plastered with details that were unknown to everyone except David until he reaveled them last week after all were safe. It is easy to pick apart the minutia and criticize the actions of others. We are glad everyone is OK. I hope that lessons were learned and this tale will serve to re-enforce certain backcountry "dos and don'ts". Please use this as a tool and not a forum for second-guessing others who share your passion for the outdoors.
-Greg

PS- Doug, next time you plan to close your shop, let us know in advance. We could have scheduled around it. We really were looking forward to eating some of your grub:)

A great read, with a happy ending. Thanks to Dave and Olivia for their candor.

Interesting how many mishaps could be avoided by the following the basic "rule" - stay together.

I'm really glad that everyone made it out ok.. I definitely learned a few things. Mistakes happen to all of us and the best thing is to be able to learn from them. I'm sure they both wish that they would of done things differently but that is not what happened., They both did things that they thought were best at the time.

Thanks for sharing your story, it is always good if someone can learn from our mistakes.

Just another great example of the wealth of information on this board. Here's a thread from 6 years ago, one that is intensely interesting and informative, that's available for us to review with just a little searching. I've found a number of similarly engrossing threads just jumping around from page to page during idle time.

Thanks Doug for keeping all these available! I'm sure lots of disk space could be freed by deleting or caching these older posts, but it's wonderful to have them available.

And after reading the story, my personal opinion re their biggest mistake is that they left Trail Camp far too late. They left at 9:00 am, planning to summit and return to the Portal the same day. To me, the numbers don't work in their favor from the outset. Darkness played a huge factor in their not linking back up the same day and SAR being called - and that appears to be due to their late start and slow pace. Summit at 4:00 pm, 7 hours after leaving TC - what's that? Way less than a one mph pace. They were headed for trouble at the outset, and then things just got worse.

"Interesting how many mishaps could be avoided by the following the basic "rule" - stay together."

Why is this the basic rule...where is this written anywhere?
On a well-marked trail, even if in a group to start, we all still hike at our own inherent pace; hurrying or slowing down seems to make me tire easily. Hike your own hike.
I do agree with the basic rule of: Anytime there is any trail junction encountered, everyone stays at the junction until all are accounted for, but as to all in the party staying in a tight group while hiking along a marked trail...don't think so.

I had an unforetunate incident that made me a believer in this rule. Maybe its been long enough that I can tell the story one of these long winter nights!
Anyway, one reason/situation where separation would NOT be a good idea (and it was mentioned in this story) is when one person is not self sufficient without the other.
I would have never guessed, until it happened to me, that two people could become lost from one another so quickly and so completely.

The morals of this story could be:

1.If you need to attract the attention of
people in a helicopter wave/flap/rotate an emergency
space blanket to be noticed. Waving your
trekking poles is worthless.

2.Tie a leash onto the speedy partner
to stay close together and avoid
unnecessary epics like this one.

It's written lots of places. Accident reports frequently point out how the situation deteriorated when the group separated. And here's a quote for Mt Shasta's Climbing Advisory - "If you choose to climb: Solo climbing is not recommended! Traveling with an experienced group is a good idea, and remember - do not split up the group!".

"the party staying in a tight group while hiking along a marked trail" - those are your words, not mine. It's quite possible to travel at your own speed with agreed upon re-assembly points. Otherwise, if you don't maintain some level of cohesiveness during the hike, your not hiking as a group. You may have carpooled to the trailhead, but then became solo hikers.

Something similar can happen when a large group of vehicles assembles to navigate to a remote trailhead. The most knowledgeable driver takes the lead, and as the miles go by, the vehicles disperse. Without some plan, rear vehicles can get lost/never show up at the trailhead. The way to avoid this is to tell everyone to watch their rear-view mirror, and if they can't see the vehicle behind them - stop until they can. This method works so long as everyone watches their rearview. Same thing applies in hiking - if people want the safety inherent in a group, and want to hike at their own pace (more or less) then each hiker maintains visual contact with the hiker behind them.

Hike your own hike, but as far as I'm concerned - just because a group arrived at a trailhead together doesn't mean they hiked as a group.

Everyone should note - it is VERY difficult to see someone on the ground from a helicopter. The signal mirror is perhaps the single best way you have of attracting the attention of the pilot or crew/observers. You should practice using your mirror to flash a object some distance away (you can typically see the bright spot). Send a friend off some distance and flash them .

With a bit of practice you can easily flash aircraft (or ground searchers for that matter) that are miles away. I can tell you from experience, a mirror flash will draw a close pass when on a search operation.

Having some piece of bright clothing or material that you can wave or wear is valuable as well. Earth tone or dark colors are very difficult to spot. Getting into an open area where you can stand out from the visual ground clutter is important.

On a side note - do NOT assume a SAR team will not work at night. Lots of factors go into determining the urgency of the response. Do not hesitate to call assuming no one will respond until morning. Please remember as well that it may take some time to get a response underway. An early call allows the process to get underway and get personnel on scene in a timely manner.

You may also be surprised to find "off duty" SAR team personnel on personal trips in the local mountains. You'll find that they will almost always go into "SAR mode" if needed.

robk makes several excellent points.

Specifically, on the subject of mirrors: The lanyard around my neck--the one that has my compass and whistle--also holds my signal mirror. I've used it successfully on several occasions, when nothing else would have worked.

If you think the CD can stand in for a signal mirror, you might want to try it out first. I did, this morning, and I could see it for, oh, I don't know...50 feet?

Admittedly, the mirror is lousy for recording songs.

Well I have to do that , just thought it sounded like a good Idea but thank you for your input . I really do need to put more thought into being prepared ,especially with winter here and I hike mostly solo .

Real testing! Thanks Bob.

I've also been thinking of doing a test to compare
a signal mirror vs emergency space blanket to
attack attention under various conditions.

I wonder if its asking too much of an inexperienced, tired, cold, etc, hiker, to aim a signal mirror accurately.

Teaching the waving of a space blanket, a more natural
action, may be better recalled in an emergency.

When used correctly in sunny conditions a signal mirror is incredible, but I will bet on the emergency blanket on an overcast day. On Sierra Granite I might favor an orange poncho.

Wasn't sure if there was a bit of humor on carrying CDs. If so, get a signal mirror instead... . As noted you can aim them, the distance & resolution is MUCH better, and they're not really any heavier. They really are much better to spot from a helicopter. Depending on the helitac crew and pilot, it's usually really hard to be spotted from a helicopter. Best bet is a mirror or lighting a smoky fire.

As a side note, I carry a small signal mirror (the kind with the small hole to aim) and a smoke flare. Remember that smoke flares are really only good when the helicopter is literally almost on top of you -- no more than 1/8 miles.

The point about alerting Sheriff or NPS at night is important. SARs take quite some time to gear up (3 to 6 hours would be a minimum before crews can get into the field). The person you talk to has to evaluate the problem; talk to other staff; start getting an Incident Command staff together (people who will handle logistics, planning, operations, mapping etc); call the California Office of Emergency Services (OES) to request SAR teams and what kind (technical, dog, general); they then call up teams who often have to drive from great distances (2 to 4 hours of drive time plus another couple of hours to get their packs and gather for transport); when they arrive at the Incident area, they have to be briefed, issued any specialty gear then start towards the search area. If they need to be transported by helicopter, they are hugely limited by weather, the ability of the helicopter to carry weight and, almost always, a lack of helicopters.

If the command staff agrees a major effort is necessary, you're talking 20 to 50 people and a couple of helicopters. That's a huge logistical task.

So it takes awhile... . Needless to say, the family is always wondering why it's "taking so long -- can't you just send someone in?" To do it safely of course, you really have to follow the numbered list.

While I'm here, I'll comment on a post somewhere around here on why hikers are discouraged/prohibited from participating. A couple of good answers were given. The two main reasons are safety -- you just can't have unsupervised, random people wandering around in an active search area. It's too dangerous for the searchers and the hikers. You've got helicopters operating, searchers perhaps on technical terrain who don't want anyone above or below them, and searcher's time taken by answering questions and trying to direct well-meaning but untrained hikers.

As important, people in the search area mess up critical clues: covering up or leaving their own foot prints: they may leave garbage or equipment that will confuse SAR teams as a possible clue, and distractions for both ground and air searchers (a helicopter can't distinguish between a hiker and who they're looking for -- a SAR team will have a radio to ID themselves).

George

Great insight into SAR!
Thanks