A 72-year-old California hiker disappeared into the wilderness and somehow hung on for up to a week before a search team found her alive — injured, exposed and deep in some seriously nasty terrain.
The Siskiyou County woman had failed to show up for work late Saturday, setting off a search after her vehicle was found near the Shasta-Siskiyou County line. What followed was a dayslong hunt through steep, remote country.
When a Siskiyou County ground crew finally located her, she was alive but had physical injuries and signs of exposure, according to Shasta County Search and Rescue.
The rescue itself was no walk in the park.
Crews had been picking their way through canyons, creeks, trails, dirt roads and shelf trails, with downed trees and trail debris adding to the mess. Temperatures dipped into the low 40s overnight, while the landscape was so unforgiving that radio communications were limited in some areas.
Searchers had to use communication relays or satellite equipment in places just to stay connected.
The operation brought together dog teams, ground crews, dirt riders and a Jeep team from Shasta County SAR to assist Siskiyou County searchers.
Then came the question of how to get the septuagenarian out.
California Highway Patrol dispatched a helicopter to the heavily wooded area, where ground crews got the woman ready for an aerial extraction and medical personnel headed in to assess and treat her. If the helicopter couldn’t pull it off, rescuers were prepared to make the evacuation overland.
They didn’t have to.
CHP air operations successfully hoisted the woman from the wilderness and flew her to a hospital for treatment, ending an ordeal estimated to have lasted five to seven days.
The woman was described by people who knew her as an avid hiker, but SAR officials used the rescue to deliver a warning for anyone heading into the outdoors: Don’t assume you’ll be home when you planned.
Their advice is straightforward — tell someone where you’re going and when you’ll be back, carry appropriate supplies and leave a note in your vehicle if you abandon it to continue on foot.
And if you get lost, officials generally recommend staying put. Wandering farther can turn one missing-person search into a much bigger one.
