Cucamonga Peak Southern Approach – A day hike gone bad

We meet at Ice House Canyon Parking Lot at 7:00am January 9^th 2006. We left Daniels truck up in the parking lot as our return vehicle. On our way up to drop off Daniels Truck I had checked out the snow line on the North facing slopes. I figured we would only have snow for a short ways from the summit We then drove down to Haven Ave. We drove to the top and parked at the end of the road.

As we got ready to go we considered the temperature and we all left our heavier jackets at the car. It was clear and sunny headed towards 70 degrees. Daniel decided to go with his Montrail Goretex lighthikers While Erik had 5-10 approach shoes and I had Montrail Hardrock trail runners. We all had long pants. And long sleeve shirts and daypacks. The picture below is at the end of the paved road as we prepared to leave the road and cross the dam that contains the run off from Deer Canyon.

At this point we were not yet on the predetermined route I had chosen the night before and loaded into the GPS, a Garmin Legend. So we were traversing east to try and get on route. We easily got on the fire road that traverses the base of the hills and proceeded East. We intended to go up Smith Ridge along a trail shown on the Topo map. We got to what we thought was the correct ridge. It turns out we were one ridge west of Smith ridge for the first 2 miles of the hike. We headed up along the ridgeline. We were not on a trail but the going was not difficult. We came upon a cleared off section that looked like someone had planned on putting a structure there. A tree with a tent in it’s bag that had been left at it. About this time we could see what looked like the trail we had intended on going up to the east of us on the parallel ridge about ½ mile over. We could see our path and the trail would intersect at the top of the ridge. We reviewed the map I had made the night before. We continued to make good progress up the ridge.

We all had trekking poles which we were using pretty much from the start. Other things we had were, Erik had brought an 80 foot section of climbing rope in case we ran into some short sections near the top where we might need it. We were completely prepared to turn around if things got to hairy as far as potential rock climbing. I had a 30’ section of 1” webbing, a 20’ Cordelette, and 2 locking carabineers.

It was pretty uneventful hiking as we approached the San Sevaine fire road. The picture above shows about the worst of the bushwhacking we had to do.

The valley floor was dropping away at a steady pace. We arrived at the fire road around 10am. The Peak looked much closer now and we actually thought we might make the peak by noon.

We were now exactly on route and following way points on the GPS. We followed the fire road into Day Canyon for 1.5 miles to a point I had predetermined we could hike back up to the ridge. Above is a picture along the fire road.

This was a steep rock covered section of about .4 miles. Below is a photo of Daniel near the top of this section of the route.

It was in this section that I saw a plane wreck off to our right about 200 yards. We debated whether we wanted to hike over to it or not, of course our curiosity got the better of us and we decided to check it out. So we traversed across the slope to the wreckage.

We checked out what was left and of course speculated on how it had crashed. The picture above shows the biggest piece of wreckage. It looked like it had been there several years. We didn’t find any evidence of skeletal remains. It appeared that the crash must have been pretty explosive as the pieces were all small and it seemed like the plane pretty much disintegrated. The pieces of the windows were about quarter sized. The landing gear was about the next biggest piece but it was only one wheel and the connecting strut. The slope the wreck was on was a talus field so the slope slid very easily. You could see that some wreckage had slid down the hill and was covered with rock. We headed straight up the slope to see if we could determine the point of impact and maybe find more wreckage with clues. We stopped finding wreckage pieces about 100 yards below the ridge line. We had probably spent about 45 minutes total in checking out the wreck, so we proceeded on as we still had a long ways to go.

We were now out of the thicker brush and just on steep rock slopes. We continued to make steady progress towards the summit stopping to snack and rest a few times. This section took longer than we thought it would. Appearances are deceiving sometimes. The peak that loomed so large right in front of us when we were on the fire road just keeps on stretching out in front of us. Noon comes and goes, as does 1pm. We are now getting close though. We have come across 2 sections of steep class 4 rock, neither very long. Below is a picture of Daniel coming up somewhere about 7500’. Day Canyon is behind him with the valley far below.

At about this point Daniel pointed out that we could see the Ocean. Erik insisted it wasn’t the Ocean. This was the raging debate until we got up to the point shown in the picture below, where the Ocean is clearly visible.

A little further up I took a shot of the summit. We are now sure we are going to make the peak and should have plenty of time to get down in time to get Daniel and myself to work for his 5:30pm and my 6:00pm shifts at REI.

It was a beautiful day as you can see in the photos, with a clearer than average blue sky and very little wind

We reached the summit about 2:30pm and took the round of obligatory photos.

San Gorgonio is directly behind me in this photo. Below Eric fuels up for the trip down. The Sun is still high and reflecting off the Ocean in the distance. We can even see ships waiting to come into port.

Daniel and Erik get ready for the decent. At this point we feel great. We made our objective and are now planning on an easier go of it just following the trail to Ice House Canyon that Daniel and I have both done several times.

From this point things went wrong pretty quickly. At 2:50pm I pushed the guys to get started. I knew we had 6 miles to go and I wanted to make sure Daniel and I made it to work on time. I didn’t think we would have much trouble doing that as on previous trips it had taken about 1-1/2 hours to get down. Which would put us down about 4:30pm. We headed over the summit to the snow fields on the North facing slope. We knew there was snow at the top. We expected that. We did not expect Ice. The temperature at the top was warm. I was in a short sleeve T-shirt and warm so we thought the snow would be soft. As we crossed over the top we quickly found that conditions were not quite what we expected. The snow in places that were in the direct sunlight were soft enough to get traction on with our trail running style shoes. The shaded section were surprisingly Icy. You could not stand on it without jamming your trekking poles in to hold you in place. Daniel and Erik thought we might try and Glissade using our trekking poles as brakes. They each tried it by glissading a short section. It didn’t work. They got going to fast instantly and couldn’t stop with the trekking poles. Daniel took a pretty quick slide into a tree laying sideways in front of him. Right here is the point we should have STOPPED and accessed our options, and probably have decided to head back down the way we had come. Still under the idea that as we dropped in elevation the snow would begin to recede and the dirt and rock that we could travel easily on would start to predominate, we continued down the North slope to the Ice House Canyon trail. I quickly found that walking over the Manzanita bushes yielded good traction. Towards the top the slope was not as steep and there was quite a bit of vegetation and trees to walk on and between. So with the trekking poles and cautious stepping we were able to proceed down towards the trail. At this point we are heading down a gully towards it’s intersection with the trail. The gully steepened as we got further over. I was still making ok progress, but I was starting to get worried that this Ice was going to last a lot longer than I wanted it to. Erik had stopped quite a ways up behind me. He was looking for a better way to travel on the ice. He came up with the Idea of using his 80’ section of rope to rappel from tree to tree. We had voice communication so we knew this was what he was doing and it sounded like it was working for him. Daniel was a little ways behind me in sight. I then noticed that I had crossed the trail and that it was leading off to the west towards the ridge line. The gully we were in was treacherous and I really didn’t want to keep going down it. I had remembered a hiker I had came across here once rolling a rock down the gully. It was actually going to get even steeper. Falling on that Ice would mean going 100 mph down the gully until you hit something, a tree or rock, that would break you and bounce you on to continue sliding to the next hard object, sending you like a pin ball to the icy bottom a couple thousand feet below. At this point I could see that the ridge that the trail went over was getting some sunshine. So I figured that if I could get over to that section of trail and over the ridge line the going might get easier. So I carefully made my way across the gully. Half way accross I picked up a rock that fit my hand pretty well and was sharp on the opposite end. I began cutting small steps in the ice to traverse over the ridge line. Daniel waited for Erik as I went across to the ridge to see if it was better that way. We could now tell that the Ice went down at least to the Cucamonga Peak Saddle 1000’ below.

This is about the time I realized we were in big trouble. We were traveling very slow and had a long ways to go on this ice. To go back up to the peak at this point didn’t seem like an option. We were able to go down slowly but up just didn’t seem possible. Again this was a time to STOP and collectively come up with a plan and realize our situation. I had cut some steps across the ice and we could have cut steps up and gone back to the top. I ended up cutting over 200 steps in the ice over the course of the night. We could have made it back to the top with less than 200 steps from this point.

By cutting the steps I was able to traverse over to the trail and follow it still cutting steps around to the ridge line. The trail then zigzags back and forth over this ridgeline to the saddle. The West facing slope of the ridge was a little better for traveling than the gully so I called over to Daniel and Erik for them to follow me over, they acknowledged but I couldn’t hear them very well at this point. I proceeded down not following the trail but staying on the west facing side of the ridge a ways to make sure this way was passable and that we were not going to run into something that would turn us around. I stopped and called back to see how far behind me the other guys were. I got no answer so I waited. After about 15 minutes of calling and getting no response my tension level raised another notch. I was not sure that they had followed me over the ridge line. I suspected the ridgeline was blocking our communication so figured they were still on the other side of the ridge. I figured that they might have continued on down the gully using Eriks rappelling method. I did know that they were together as I heard them together just as I headed over the ridgeline the first time. I was pretty sure the Gully was going to get worse and steeper and hoped they hadn’t gone that way. I figured I had 2 options, I could sit and wait for them if they were just coming behind me slowly, or I could go down to the Cucamonga saddle and either meet them there or hopefully see where they were. The saddle was still a long ways down but it seemed like our most likely regroup point.

I began to get concerned about the prospect of spending the night on the ice in what was sure to be freezing temperatures. At this time I still I felt that I could make it out although probably after dark if I could get below the ice line. Once below the ice line I knew the trail and figured walking out would be no problem. We had a near full moon and almost no wind. While I knew we had a little emergency gear I had never spent an unexpected night in the wilderness. I was afraid that we would freeze to death. I slowly came to the decision that my best course of action was to keep going. I figured that when I got to the bottom at the Cucamonga saddle I could access where Daniel and Erik were and determine if I should wait for them or try and go get help.

About this time I started to notice the cold. As long as I was cutting steps and scrambling between vegetation, trees, and rocks at a steady pace I was warm generating my own heat. When I stopped and called for the other guys I cooled off pretty quickly. I continued in this fashion down the west facing slope of the ridge. As I got closer to the saddle I was able to travel from tree to tree more and had to cut fewer steps which encouraged me that I was beginning to drop below the snow/ice line. I made the Ice House Saddle at about 5:00pm. Here I could see the Ice House Canyon trail clearly leading to the North. The trail cut across the slope at a gentle angle which looked like it would be much easier traveling than the steep stuff I had just come down. The trail was wide enough that the thin cover of snow/ice was at a lower angle than the rest of the slope. I actually thought that I would be able to walk on it with my trekking poles and that it was flat enough that I wouldn’t slide off the trail. At this point I stopped and looked up the gully and along the ridge line to try and find Daniel and Erik. I had my emergency Whistle so I blew that hoping to get a response. I knew Erik had a whistle on his Traverse pack so was hoping to determine there location and then decide what to do. I could not see or hear any sign of them. It was now 5pm, the sun was still up but It was apparent that we would still be on the mountain after dark. Since Erik and Daniel had not beaten me to the saddle and I could not see or hear them from the saddle I figured they must be pretty high above still. My decision at this time was to get the heck out of there and get help to come back up after Erik and Daniel since I felt they were stuck up on the ridge line. I got very afraid for Daniel and Erik that they might have to stay all night somewhere around 8000’ in the ice at temperatures below freezing. I knew that they had matches but was not confident about them surviving the night. Until you’ve actually done it the idea of spending a night in the wilderness in those conditions with minimal gear is very very daunting. As far as my own situation, I was still very confident I could make it out. I started down the trail. I could actually travel on the first stretch of the trail with just my trekking poles. The sun had made it a little softer. I soon got to sections that had not been in the sun and was back to cutting steps to cross featureless sections. These were usually 15 to 30 foot sections where there were no rocks or bushes sticking through the snow/ice. I would cross these sections then have a stretch of 100 feet or so I could go from feature to feature. In some of the longer ice sections I looked up and down the slope off trail to see if I could link up trees and brush to get across. This resulted in a zig zaging up and down path basically parallel to the trail following the way that had the most features.

At 5:30pm my cell phone beeped indicating I had a new message. More importantly signaling I had cell coverage. I stopped and tried to call my wife. It was the time she gets off work so when she didn’t answer her work phone I figured she was in route home so I called REI as I knew they had the phone numbers for Erik’s parents, and Daniel, and even my home so that they could let everyone know what the deal was. I got a hold of Sophie at REI and let here know we were up on Cucamonga Peak and I thought we would need help, and that I wanted here to let Erik’s folks know. After passing on the basics of the situation I again tried to call Gina, this time at home. I still got no answer so hung up. I was getting very low on battery and didn’t want to waste it waiting for the message machine to complete it’sannouncement. I considered now that I had got the word out. I wanted to talk to Gina but didn’t figure I would get a hold of her until maybe 6:00pm at home so I put my pack on and kept going intending to stop and call again in a little ways. After about ten minutes I noticed a flashing light on the ridge above. It was Erik’s headlamp on flash mode. I was glad to see it, but was not glad to see where they still were. They were on the ridge line between the West and North Facing slope about half way between the peak and the Cucamonga Peak Saddle. It was now almost dark. The fact that Erik had set his headlamp on flash mode made me think that they had stopped and were not going on. If he was using the headlamp to travel it would just be on not flashing. I hoped they had found a protected spot they thought they could make it through the night. They were about 2 miles from me and could not hear my shouts or whistle. Now sure that they were going to be spending a scary cold night on the Mountain I wanted to get out and get Search and Rescue on the way up to them. I started hiking again, or more appropriately Ice climbing my way towards Ice House Saddle. A few minutes later my phone rang. It was Nate at REI. He asked if I wanted them to call Search and Rescue. I said Yes and gave them as much information as I could about where I was. I told them I thought I could still make it out and that I would be coming out Ice House Canyon. My low battery signal beeped so I knew I wouldn’t be able to talk long. I answered a few questions for them, like why weren’t we all together. I told them I was really worried about Daniel and Erik. I was pretty sure I would make it out, although this is about the time I started not being so sure of that. I hung up hoping to be able to make at least one more call to my wife before the phone died. It was still not 6pm yet so I put the phone in my pack and started again. I heard the phone beep low battery two more times then no more. I knew it was dead.

I felt anxious and calm at the same time. I wanted to get off the ice and to where I could give information on where to find Erik and Daniel and I wanted to let Gina know I was ok. But I also knew I was in a very dangerous situation and I needed to proceed with extreme caution. As I started to hike/Ice climb again I blocked everything out and just concentrated on what I was doing. I kept a steady effort going which kept me warm but not sweating. The conditions remained unchanged as I worked my way at about the same elevation across the slope towards Ice house saddle. 7pm came and went.

At one point along the way I was approaching a gully I recognized from doing the route in the summer. There was a long featureless section of the trail to cross the gully to some rocks and shrubs that broke through the surface of the ice. I cut steps across about 30 feet of ice to get within arms length of the shrubs. I reached out and got a hold of the shrubs, it was a long reach. I committed to the shrubs but they broke free. In an instant I was sliding down the gully. I remember just and intense effort clutching for shrubs and trying to dig my feet in willing myself to STOP STOP STOP. At the third STOP that went through my mind I did thankfully. I knew that had been a close call. I cut some steps out of where I stopped and got onto a dirt section and paused. I knew I was going to have to go even slower now. After collecting myself again I began again. Finally at 8pm I rounded a ridge as the trail swung west. At this point I could see the slope of Timber peak leading down to the saddle and Mt. San Antonio in the distant background. I knew I was now within ¼ mile of Ice House Saddle. I was getting tired now. It was fully dark, although it was nearly a full moon and I had pretty good light from that.

At this point I was not exactly on the trail but was close. I had had to go down below the trail a long ways then work my way back up to the trail to stay on the most features. I could see where the saddle was and was looking to see what the best way across would be. What I was looking at was a gully that had fewer features than what I had been crossing. It was North facing and pure ice. I headed down over a section of it. I decided to try and use the 30’ section of 1” webbing I had to see if I could rappel from tree to tree the way Erik had done above. I made a little progress but determined that my webbing wasn’t long enough I could only go about 15’ between trees and there was sections that were quite a bit bigger than that ahead of me. My gut was telling me to stop. So I listened. It finally sunk in that I too was not going to make it out this night. I had just recently passed an open dirt patch that had some wood on it as I rounded the ridge so I worked my way back up to that point.

At this point my thinking was I would try to start a fire. If that was successful I would stay put. If not I would maybe give it another try to get out. I was not confident that I would not freeze to death if I didn’t have a fire. I collected small sticks and pine needles, then bigger sticks, and finally a 10 foot log about 6” in diameter. I had some tissue paper so I waded that up and put my tender on top of that. I had a full box of water proof matches which was comforting. My first match started the TP ok but it didn’t catch the tender. I repositioned things and tried again getting a good flame going with the second match. That was a huge relief. I knew now that I would be ok. I had gotten word out that we were stuck on the mountain, and I had gotten to a place where I could stay until morning. I really didn’t know what to expect next. I just put a bunch of fuel on my fire and planned on getting a good bunch of coals going that I could just feed all night.

Once I got established at my campfire I started to worry about Daniel and Erik, the fact that I had not been able to contact Gina and how terrible she would be feeling not knowing how I was doing. I began remembering all the stories I had heard of very experienced people falling to there death and severe injury in this area and on Mt. baldy. I became certain that I had pressed my luck and any further pushing of it would end in tragedy. With my fire going strong I proceeded to access my situation. I opened up my pack and laid everything out. I had some trial mix left and 2 cliff bars for food. I had ½ a liter of water, but knew I could melt snow for water if I wanted to. I also had water purifying tablets. I had an emergency blanket that I opened up and draped over my shoulders to keep the wind off. I had a swiss army knife, digital camera, GPS, Dead Cell Phone, some TP, a patch of moleskin, A nearly full box of waterproof Matches, 30’ of webbing, 20’ of 6mm cordelette, 2 locking carabineer, a few business cards, I had used some as tender but still had a few, a pen, a small first aid kit, my sun glasses, a safety whistle, the nylon bag I had my food in, a bottle of bug spray, my trekking poles, my day pack, and the rain fly that came with my daypack, and 2 maps of the area. On my person I had Montrail hard rock trail running shoes, Smartwool adrenaline socks, REI Mistral pants, MTS (Moisture Transfer System Polyester) underwear, Long Sleeve MTS undershirt, a cotton T-shirt over that, I had a Buff doubled up serving as a cap pulled over my ears, and a pair of REI Mtn biking gloves. I knew that was enough to get through the night. I wasn’t sure what all Daniel and Erik had. I knew they had matches, food, water, a cell phone, and the rope. I continued to collect wood for my fire breaking branches off dead trees and collecting everything in the area that was dry. I had a pretty good pile of sticks and the big log that I began burning at the end. I knew the log would last all night. So then my mind started to wander through all the what ifs, should ofs, and only ifs. Time passed very slowly. I finally forced myself to eat the trail mix I had left. Still time dragged on. 9pm, 9:01, 9:02, 9:03, you get the idea. I scanned the ridge where I had seen Erik’s light hoping to see either the light or a camp fire, Nothing.

Around 10:30pm I have settled into a position near the fire slowly feeding it. I am warm in fact my fire got so hot I accidentally melted the basket on one of my trekking poles. It is getting very cold out. If my feet get too far from the fire they start to get cold.

Then I hear the distinctive Whap Whap Whap of a chopper coming. It proceeds directly up Lytle Creek Canyon towards the Cucamonga Peak Saddle. I’m very happy. They are flying with minimal lights on. They fire up the spot light and start searching from the bottom of the gully where we would have been if we fell in one of the ice shoots. They work there way up to the saddle pretty quickly, then break in my direction. Someone has spotted my fire. They come right over me and drop down a bit for a closer look. They make a few turns around me. I stand up and wave my Emergency blanket at them. I give them the thumbs up letting them know I’m ok. I point back up to the ridge hoping they will understand where I think Daniel and Erik are. Having found me they seem satisfied and they head out directly towards Mt. Baldy Village. I’m a bit surprised by that. I try to figure what this means. First it means that Search and Rescue has been notified and people know what our situation is. They know that I am fine and that I have a fire. That means I will not have a problem surviving the night. I guess that since they didn’t keep looking for Erik and Daniel, either they had spotted them and they were also ok with a fire, or Erik and Daniel had gotten to someplace where they could make a phone call to let people know they were ok. I’m feeling quite a bit better now. I know now that they should be able to let Gina know that I am ok. I figure that considering the conditions and our apparently ok situations we will not being seeing anyone until morning. I suspect people will probably start up at first light to come give us a hand. So I settle back into tending the fire. After an eternity of 15 minutes I decide to go ahead and get into the emergency blanket which has 3 closed sides to act as an emergency bivy sack. Another eternity of 15 minutes goes by and I notice the backs of my legs getting cold. I check it out and find the emergency blanket now has a huge rip in it. Any movement I make makes the rip bigger. This thing is like tissue paper. I realize if I didn’t have the fire I would be hosed. I’m still able to wrap the torn blanket around my shoulders which is nice but I’ve learned quite a bit about emergency blankets. Get a durable one. If you ever need it it has to stand up to some abuse. In these situations you are not in a state of mind to coddle something the strength of tissue paper. I’m still fine, I’m leaning up against my burning log on top of the day pack rain fly and my day pack just feeding my fire and waiting.

Eternity, after Eternity, after Eternity I suddenly hear a yell, “Hello”. I holler back and throw a bunch of fuel on the fire to stoke it up. Sure enough here comes some guys with headlamps. They have crossed over the saddle and are quite a ways below me. I guide them into my position, they can see the glow of my fire. At 3:30am Mervin and Tyler from West Valley Search and Rescue walk into my campfire area. We are glad to see each other. They have radios so they immediately radio out that they are with me at the fire and that I am fine. I find out that they expected to find 2 people at the fire. The Helicopter crew reported seeing 2 people at the fire, and here I am alone. Next comes many questions most of them relayed onto the Search and Rescue Command Post. What was our route? Did I see the Helicopter? Am I sure the Helicopter saw me? What time did I start my fire? Where was I when I made my cell phone call? Where did I last see the other two? What clothes were they wearing? I learn that there are 4 teams out on the mountain. I am with Team 1, Team 3 is investigating a rock tapping noise, Team 2 and 4 are on there way up Ice House Canyon. Team 3 heard what they thought was a response to there calls. They asked if the person was hurt and got what they thought was a human voice saying “yes” and then rock tapping sounds. This was taking place in a gully on the North side of Buck horn pass. It was a long ways from where I knew Erik and Daniel were. There was no way they could have gotten that far. There was another car in the parking lot at Ice House Canyon so I figured it could have been another hiker that had gotten in trouble. Mervin, Tyler and I sat around the campfire monitoring the radio and waiting for instruction. Every once in a while someone would think of a new question to ask me. Command sent a team up to check out the rock clicking noise and sent another to head over Buck horn pass to see if they could spot Erik and Daniel from the top.

Now my deep worry for Daniel and Erik has returned. The helicopter did not spot them and they had not made a phone call out. I am now telling S&R that I am pretty certain they are both stuck together about ½ way down the ridge between the peak and the saddle. Command asks Mervin and Tyler if they can head up the Ice House Canyon trail to where I am indicating I think Daniel and Erik are. They say yes, and get ready to go after having spent about 45 minutes with me. They have 60 pound packs with all kinds of gear they are on crampons and ice axes. They leave me with a jacket but I insist they take everything else in case they find Daniel and Erik and they need it. I indicate the way I came and the way to the trail and off they go. I watch there lights go up and down the slope. I can see they aren’t making good progress. They do finally get out of sight, so I settle back into tending the fire. After about 45 minutes I hear some more hollers, and holler back. It’s Mervin and Tyler on there way back to me. Even with Ice Axes and Crampons they found the conditions too treacherous, and they come back to my fire. We settle in now to monitor the radio and wait for day light. Team 3 makes it up to Ice House Saddle and can see the campfire from there. They remain there to be a radio relay. Team 4 makes progress towards buckhorn summit, and some members of Team 2 are not ice certified so Team 2 heads down the mountain.

Day light breaks and we wonder what the plan is. The radio talk has all died off. We discuss that if I could get crampons we could walk off. Mervin seems pretty sure that the helicopter will be back at first light to pick us up and to continue the search for Daniel and Erik. We get word about 7am that the Chopper is coming and to get ready for extraction. I try to put the fire out with snow. The chopper comes and the rotter wash fans the fire right back up even though I have buried it in snow. It’s not going anywhere anyway. A crewmen from the helicopter lowers down on a cable with a harness. He wraps the harness on me and up we go about 100 feet to the hovering helicopter. I’m pulled in and directed to a seat. Mervin and Tyler are brought up in the same way. The Helicopter is now off to land at Mt Baldy Village. I really don’t get to exchange any information with the crew. It’s supper loud. I do indicate where I think Daniel and Erik are. We are dropped off and a S&R coordinator, Bob Gattas meets me with a map. Now I find out that Erik was able to make a phone call early in the morning. From the tower the call went through they think they are on the South side of the mountain. The S&R coordinator talks to the helicopter crew about where he wants them to go look. He is suggesting that it is possible that Daniel and Erik went back to the top and have headed down the same way we came up so He wants them to go check Smith Ridge. I tell him that I don’t think based on the conditions that they would have gone back that way but might have just went straight down to get out of the Ice somewhere on the south west side of the mountain. So he directs the pilot to search there first and then work his way around the south face. The 3 of us are then taken to the Command Post set-up at Mt Baldy Fire station. Once there I am directed in to talk with the man in charge of the operation. He asks me a few more questions and wants me to stay in the area to answer questions as things come up. Eriks father is there and we talk a little. I remember that I took pictures with the digital camera and am getting it out to show them exactly what Daniel and Erik are wearing. Just about that time someone says the TV has just reported that they are pulling 2 more hikers off the mountain. Some people think the TV is reporting me being picked up but someone switches the TV to KTLA and sure enough it’s not me. Yeah! Oh what a relief. Erik is going up the cable to the helicopter. In no time Daniel and Erik walked into the Command post. Wow, how did I feel now. Thankful mostly, but also embarrassed, and stupid for having gotten into that situation. I had learned a great deal that night. I will take great pains to make sure I never end up in that situation again. I also learned a lot about the 10 essentials and will be improving my emergency kit. I also learned finally after not stopping too many times in the course of this night, that I can stop, and that I will make better decisions once I stop and think. I do not need to fear while I have my ten essentials that I can’t make it through the night if just staying put is the best course of action. For anyone that reads this I hope to impress on you take a very good ten essentials kit with you whenever you head out, and when you get in trouble STOP and think before you proceed.