Mt. Baldy turns deadly

A man and two of his companions are dead after high winds prevented rescue crews from responding to a report of an injured hiker near a southern California mountain trail, the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department announced on Monday.

The three bodies were discovered Monday evening along the Devil’s Backbone trail at Mount Baldy, which rises more than 10,000ft and sits just east of Los Angeles, according to a statement from the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department.

The deaths occurred near where actor Julian Sands died three years ago. Sands, who starred in A Room With a View and Leaving Las Vegas, was reported missing after setting off on a solo hike in January 2023. His body was found five months later.

And in January 2023, the same month Sands went missing, another 15 hikers either got lost, were injured or died on the mountain.

The department said it received a call at about 11.30am on Monday from someone reporting that their 19-year-old friend had tumbled 500ft (150 meters) down a remote mountainside. The caller had hiked to an area with cellular service and provided GPS coordinates to rescuers.

A helicopter crew spotted the injured hiker and two other people but strong winds prevented the aircraft from landing. A second landing attempt hours later was also unsuccessful because of winds.

A medic was eventually hoisted down from a helicopter and found all three people dead at about 7.30pm, the sheriff’s statement said. Their identities were not released as of Tuesday and the cause of the deaths wasn’t immediately known.

That same day, the San Bernardino sheriff’s department announced that it rescued two other hikers – two men, ages 18 and 31 – from another trail on Mount Baldy. One of the hikers was hurt after falling more than 100ft from the trail.

In October, three hikers were rescued near the same trail where the deceased hikers were found. The San Bernardino sheriff’s department said that three 20-year-old men were hiking near the Devil’s Backbone when they took a wrong turn, got lost and were unable to keep moving on the mountain. All were rescued without any injuries.

Source - The Guardian