Girl Scout rescued on San Jacinto Trail

[halhiker]

Story here:

http://goo.gl/aUhJV

[Hikin_Jim]

With typical media precision:

near the San Jacinto Peak at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Nearly as good as GPS coordinates, don't you think?

Hope the young lady is OK.

HJ

[hikerval]

I was the Girl Scout leader in charge of the trip. The Sheriff's press release was incorrect in most of its facts, though I would want to emphasize that I am thankful from the bottom of my heart for the Riverside Sheriff's helicopter response to the incident. They were phenomenal.

Also notable was the SJ ranger's response and the SJ SAR; in the dark I'm not sure of all the organizations that were represented and orchestrated that amazing litter transport, but I thank them from the bottom of my heart as well.

The facts: 11 year old returning from dayhike to peak during the course of a 3-day backpack training trip. Slipped and fell on the trail at 3:30 pm, assessed on the scene as ankle injury w/ possible fracture. UTM coordinates were radioed from the ranger to ???, so no searching involved. Incident occurred about 3/4 mile north of Wellman Divide, maybe 15 minutes above the burned out tree. No hoist was used, but she was transported by litter about 1/2 mile below Wellman, where she was loaded on a helicopter to the hospital.

She has a sprained ankle and is doing fine. Wants to return and join us on our next year's training trip.

[Hikin_Jim]

Glad to hear that she is OK.

Don't worry too much about the press report. It's a running joke here just how badly the press gets it wrong. We've learned to largely disregard any details that the press reports.

My favorite press report? "The tram goes to the top of San Jacinto Peak" (or words to that effect).

HJ

[Sally]

Thank you for the update, hikerval. I am glad the girl is OK, and especially glad that she wants to do next year's training trip.

[HH8]

Wants to return and join us on our next year's training trip.

Proof that you prevented as much as possible, and handled the rest commendably. Thanks for sharing with a new generation.

[Lermo]

Thanks for being of service to the Girlscouts Hikerval! I'm glad everything turned out OK. I wish my daughters GS group would do more outdoorsy stuff like that (not the sprained ankle part). I get her out to the Sierra's and on my training hikes so the the tourch is being passed .

[hikerval]

Thank you for your kind comments. Every leader has to look at their response after an event like this and evaluate. I'm very happy to have just completed WFR training this spring -- all in the spirit of being prepared.

As for Girl Scout backpacking opportunities, San Diego-Imperial Girl Scouts brings in a number of girls from around southern CA to participate in our program, and we're always happy to see our program take off in other councils. Check out our website: www.sdgirlscouts.org/backpacking to see our progression and calendar, then come join us! We love our Girl Scout Dads and Moms, too!

Thanks again for positive comments!