Intense, cliff hoist rescue of Pacific Crest Trail hiker in

[guest]

Hi friends, I'd imagine some saw a bit of this, as it was on the local desert news. Appears to be a short ways up Whitewater Canyon, on the PCT, after trail crosses over to the east side of drainage.
I have not been on this section, but it looks to me that a side-trail goes off across a steep face, where main trail goes around the block of rocks at the top of ridge. Like sections of Skyline, many follow short-cuts, (some not knowing it's not the main trail), and get in trouble. Some usual armchair warriors in comments on utube dishing out some judgement. If this gal did start in Campo at the boarder, she deserves some credit, and most likely had to cross some tough stretches on the desert divide, and other areas. Yes, her pack is probably too heavy, but considering she's been in the mtns, and heading back into the San Bernardinos and others, she has plenty of clothes and water. I'm sure many of us have experienced the parallelizing feeling of being stuck on a steep face and thinking the next move my be the last. I had to chuckle when rescuer said, grab onto me, (not my ears, ouch). That terrain looks parched and very crumbly after that heat spell, combined with winds, (luckily, there was no wind during this rescue). SS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2GUQ7wjmsc

[bretpct]

A harrowing situation. It's easy to judge people from the safety of the couch, especially without any further context of what got her in that situation. Her pack seemed average to me. I've seen way worse. She was even rocking a CNOC and Smart Water bottle so she definitely was up on the latest trends. What an impressive crew as well.

[hiiker]

After watching the rescue I wonder why RMRU or a similar organization wasn't called (maybe they were and no one was available) in to rescue the subject. I'm not an expert but to me it seemed it would have been much easier to retrieve the person from above and forgo the helicopter rescue.

[guest]

Legit question, which may have been easier, but a couple things come to mind. She was in a precarious situation, (may not have looked like it), and if you've ever been "glued" to a steep face, having trouble going up or down, your strength gets sapped pretty quickly.
Maybe the agency called, figured they could get a helo there quicker, (as I think to hike to her from Whitewater Preserve is at least a few miles), adding the time for the SAR folks to even arrive on scene. Plus, that terrain was so dry, loose and unstable, maybe their figured rapping down to her might not have been a great choice.
You can see in the video, her legs were shaking a lot, I think I read she had been there over an hour, holding on. If she was actually able to make a call, (she may have just pressed emerg on her Spot), the 911 folks may have heard some terror in her voice, requiring an asap response.
Maybe more info will come out about this situation, glad she's ok, hope she was able to continue on her PCT journey.

[Ed]

What puzzles me is why she was there, off trail with full pack on. But I have never hiked there, so it is pointless for me to speculate. I can well understand the fear, having experienced it from boyhood misadventures to later days climbing.

[guest]

Hey Ed, if you stop the video at points, it seems to show how the trail actually curves around Behind that small outcrop of rocks at the top of that ridge, but some folks seem to have carved out a shortcut going across that face on the cliff. She may have not been paying close attention, or maybe just thought that was the main trail. Hopefully someone will block that off with some rocks or twigs to prevent this, but as with Skyline, many think shortcuts are quicker, and disregard the safety aspect, and soon, the shortcut :becomes" the main trail. ss

[Ed]

Thanks for the explanation, Scott