request to find an injured 19-year-old hiker<\/a> in the area who reportedly fell about 500 feet.<\/p>\nA friend and hiking companion hiked to an area with cellular service to alert rescuers and direct them to the hiker’s location. During an aerial search, deputies located the injured hiker and two additional people nearby.<\/p>\n
Strong winds prevented helicopter crews from completing the rescue, the department said. Wind advisories were in effect Monday for parts of Southern California, including area mountains.<\/p>\n
At about 7:30 p.m., high winds still prevented a hoist operation to lift the individuals to safety. A medic was lowered down and confirmed all three people were dead.<\/p>\n
Attempts to recover the bodies were underway Tuesday. The ages of the victims found with Casanova and information about how long they had been there were not immediately available.<\/p>\n
At more than 10,000 feet, the summit of Mount Baldy — aka Mount San Antonio — is the highest point in the San Gabriel Mountains and Los Angeles County. Already challenging hiking trails in the area, including scenic Devil’s Backbone with its steep drop-offs, can become treacherous with snow and ice in winter.<\/p>\n
“This is an extremely dangerous trail that is not carved out in a way that a regular hiker could hike and be safe,” said Jenny Smith, public information officer for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. “It is one of the most dangerous trails we have in our area. We definitely don’t want novice hikers going up and hurting themselves.”<\/p>\n
Smith said rescue operations, which also place search-rescue team members in danger, are happening almost daily near Mount Baldy trails. <\/p>\n
“It is almost an everyday occurrence that we’re rescuing people who need help who cannot get off of the mountain,” Smith said. “The weather can change in an instant. Conditions change rapidly. We’re trying to encourage everyone to stay off the mountain.”<\/p>\n
In a separate search in the Mount Baldy area, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department rescuers responded to Ontario Peak Trail Monday afternoon after a report of two stranded hikers, ages 18 and 31. One of the hikers was injured in a fall about 100 feet down from the trail.<\/p>\n
Both men were hoist-rescued by a helicopter crew.<\/p>\n
“The San Bernardino County Sheriff\u2019s Department reminds the public to please prepare adequately before hiking, bring appropriate supplies, avoid hiking during inclement weather conditions, carry a global positioning satellite (GPS) device, and only hike on open and designated trails,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.<\/p>\n
A temporary closure order was issued earlier for the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, including the Mount Baldy area. The closure will be n effect until Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. Violations are punishable by fines up to $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for an organization, and\/or up to six months in prison.<\/p>\n
“The tragic loss of life on Mt. Baldy and repeated rescue responses highlight how dangerous current conditions are, even for experienced hikers,” said San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus. “Weather and terrain conditions remain extremely dangerous and unpredictable, posing a significant risk to both the public and Search and Rescue personnel. The temporary closure of Mt. Baldy trails is necessary to prevent additional emergencies and protect lives. The public is urged to respect the closure and avoid the area until it is safe to reopen.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of three hikers found dead Wednesday off a trail with perilously steep drop-offs near Mount Baldy in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49,61064],"class_list":{"0":"post-115262","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-la","9":"tag-la-headlines","10":"tag-la-news","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","13":"tag-los-angeles-news","14":"tag-mount-baldy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}