Over Exertion Leads to Rescue on Mt. Whitney
July 4, 2023 - Inyo County Search & Rescue officials report that at 11:47 a.m. on July 1st, 2023, Inyo SAR received a call-out to rescue a hiker on the Mt. Whitney trail, who was unable to finish the hike about 1 mile from the parking lot.
The subject had been on a day hike up to Mt. Whitney with a hiking partner on June 30 when they both summited the mountain. However, on the descent they separated. One continued down to the parking lot at the Portal while the other stayed behind, eventually taking a tumble off the trail.
A few Good Samaritans heard his calls for help, scrambled over to his location and determined that he was just mildly hurt, but unable to walk the last mile due to utter exhaustion. At this point, they decided to call SAR.
A hasty team of 2 team members from Lone Pine ascended to the subject’s location, where they arrived at 1:30 p.m. Meanwhile, a second team drove down from Bishop and met with a USFS fire work crew who happened to work in the area that day.
Together, SAR team 2 and USFS fire staff ascended to the subject’s location bringing a wheeled litter and more medical supplies, arriving at 2:45 p.m.
The patient was packaged in the litter and wheeled down the trail. On remaining snow patches and creek crossings, the litter was cautiously passed hand over hand to avoid slipping.
At 3:30 p.m., the patient care was transferred to the ambulance of the Lone Pine Volunteer Fire Department.
We’d like to thank the Good Samaritans, the US Forest Service for their help and the Lone Pine VFD for their dedicated service.
Reminder: The summit is only the half-way point! You still need enough strength, food, and water to make it back to the car. Have an early turn-around time and stick to it. The subject had been hiking the entire day of Friday, Friday night and Saturday morning.
Also, please, please stay together and look after each other! We can’t stress enough that group separation is the perfect recipe for a rescue.
Inyo SAR is an all-volunteer and unpaid, professional non-profit 501(c)3 organization in cooperation with and under the authority of the Inyo County Sheriff's Office. Providing search and rescue services to Inyo County and its visitors is only possible thanks to donations.
Source & photo: Inyo County Search & Rescue
