Interesting search and rescue operation this week

[halhiker]

Did he take pictures? I'd like to see those.

This had to be a crazy trip but not completely unprecedented. I read about a kid going down Snow Creek when he got separated from this Boy Scout troop. I think I read in John Robinson's book The San Jacintos that he showed up at Snow Creek with a rattlesnake in his backpack.

[Cy Kaicener]

I would love to get a trip report.
I wonder if this is the same Richard Wong
http://www.rwongphoto.com/SoCalDeserts.html

[Pitownpi]

..............................

[zippetydude]

I read about a kid going down Snow Creek when he got separated from this Boy Scout troop. I think I read in John Robinson's book The San Jacintos that he showed up at Snow Creek with a rattlesnake in his backpack.

Wow, that's some kid! Got bored on the way down, so he picked up a rattler to keep him company...

You know, we hear about a lot of rescues. It's encouraging to hear some of these stories of people who just toughed it out and made it through despite the really rough terrain. Of course, bluerail and Fern intentionally do this kinda thing every weekend, but that's a different story.

z

[mattmaxon91040]

Dang ... now I want to do it.

Yeah, he must have been torn to pieces S#@$ loads for brambles down in there.

This has always held some interest for me as well

It is surprising to me no one noticed him from the tram

[Cy Kaicener]

Amazing indeed. Other info from SAR's was that his friends gave somewhat misinformation re. his condition & fitness, as well as where exactly they were headed.

I've been up both the TP Ridge (very close to Chino, & the North Ridge route (aka Leatherneck).
My guess is he headed down the NR route, got far enough down it to spot Chino, maybe even lights or the sound of the tram (though I doubt that), then headed over to one of those Steep-Ass ridges into Chino, ouch.

I heard security spotted him close to tower 2, there's crazy-thick grapevine around there.

Friends (1 of them Very familiar to this board!?), have gone up a ridge below parking lots, which contacts the upper portion of NR route.

Apparently he had a ton of mosquito bites to go along with the scratches, (probably from lower elevations).

He's a stud, no doubt!

ss

Security spotted him close to tower number 2

[Cy Kaicener]

We now have more details of this amazing trip
http://towncrierbreakingnews.blogspot.c ... -tram.html

[AlanK]

The next morning, at sunrise, Wong saw that he was still on the ridgeline and that the cables of the Tram were off to his right. He decided to follow the cables down to the desert station. “Ten decently sized hills turned out to be 80 or 90 with vertical drop offs,” re remembered. “I followed a little creek, with snow runoff, down the mountain. It looked shorter and a lot easier on a map.”

Wong said it took him 10 hours to get down the precipitous north face. “It was a bad guess and a bad gamble,” he acknowledged.

Given that he sighted the cables and had a map, what would possess him to go anywhere but the top of the cables? I mean, given the choice of descending a little on relatively easy terrain and descending quite a few thousand feet in a very steep and unfamiliar canyon, I know what Rick Kent would choose, but he would also know what he was doing.

[OtherHand]

I do not believe he in fact had a map, although the way the article is written implies he did. He may have been referring to being shown the route on a map after the fact. In his original debrief he said he found his way to the peak by following the posted directional signs.

[guest]

The article mentioned the north face. It's very doubtful he was anywhere near that, if he saw the tram cables & landed up around tower 2.

I'd imagine they were referring to the North Ridge route, (Leatherneck ridge), which has a fork high up which heads east over towards the telephone ridge, and then to one of the steep-ass ridges into Chino Cyn.
The North Ridge route does have a bunch of ups & downs as mentioned.

Amazing how the love (& worry) of your mother can manifest great strength.

ss