California hikers rescued after 5 days, used special straw to survive

April 11 (Reuters) – After five days missing, two California hikers were found alive on Wednesday evening by searchers who had followed their footprints, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department announced.

A search team found Eric Desplinter, 33, and Gabrielle Wallace, 31, in the Cucamonga Canyon near Mt. Baldy, 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles, officials said in a statement.

They had been gone since Saturday.

“This evening a search team in Cucamonga Canyon found two sets of footprints and began following them,” the statement said.

The searchers then called for a sheriff’s helicopter to fly over the area, where the aviation team spotted a campfire which helped them zero in on the lost hikers.

They were hoisted onto a helicopter and taken to a local fire station to be examined by paramedics and reunited with family and friends, officials said.

Desplinter, who is from Chino Hills, is an experienced outdoorsman, the Sheriff’s Department statement said earlier this week. He was wearing a jacket, and his friend Wallace, who is from Rancho Cucamonga, had a sweater.

They were rationing their food and drinking water through a LifeStraw, a portable filter, Los Angeles TV station KABC said.

The pair had been part of a foursome attempting to complete the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge, in which hikers to scale six of a designated dozen peaks in Southern California. That list includes Mt. Baldy (Mt. San Antonio) and Cucamonga Peak.

When the other two in the group turned back on Saturday morning, friends said, the pair continued toward Cucamonga Peak and said they would return around 7 p.m.

When they hadn’t returned on Sunday morning, a friend reported them missing.

The search covered more than 30 square miles, according to the sheriff’s office.

“Volunteers are a real blessing to our agencies, providing thousands of hours giving back to make our communities better and stronger,” San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon said in a statement.

The Southern California ‘Six-Pack Challenge” peaks:

• Mount Wilson, 5,712 feet
• Cucamonga Peak, 8,862
• Mount San Antonio (Mount Baldy) 10,068
• San Bernardino Peak, 10,649
• Mount San Jacinto, 10,833
• San Gorgonio Peak, 11,503
• Mount Baden-Powell, 9,406
• Ontario Peak, 8,696
• Sitton Peak, 3,272
• Mount Pinos, 8,847
• Strawberry Peak, 6,164
• Santiago Peak (Saddleback) 5,689