By Mary O’KEEFE

A few weeks ago several residents in the Briggs Terrace area heard helicopters hovering overhead in the dark. Two high school boys who had been hiking in the area found themselves too far from the trailhead as night fell.

“My friend, Andres [Gurza] and I were out on a hike and had climbed to a vantage point to get to [another trail],” said Nick Sandoval, a senior at Crescenta Valley High School. “The entrance to the canyon is right by my house.”

Both boys had hiked the trail numerous times but this time they wanted to hike a little farther.

“We went to this waterfall we had never seen before,” said Gurza, a CVHS junior. “We kept climbing up and got pretty high in the mountain.”

He added he thought the waterfall resulted from recent rains. But as the two walked up the ridge to the waterfall they felt the ground was unstable.

“The terrain was falling [away],” Sandoval added.

The two knew they couldn’t safely go back the way they came and thought they could climb over a ridge that would lead them back. When they got to the top of the ridge they saw the neighborhood homes but discovered they were farther than they thought, Sandoval said.

“It started getting dark,” he said. “And then I fell. I took about a 10-foot dive down the side of a [cliff].”

Luckily his fall was stopped by a tree. He stayed in place while Gurza waited at the top of the ridge.

“The sound of [Nick] falling alerted a resident across the canyon,” Gurza said. “She called out [and asked], ‘Hey are you okay?”

They said they needed help and the resident called for emergency responders.

Los Angeles County Fire Dept. responded first to the residence. A firefighter went outside the home and yelled across to the boys.

“We were communicating [across] the canyon. I [gave him] my cellphone number and he called us and told us to wait,” Gurza said. 

The boys were told not to move from their location. Sandoval said it was probably only about 20 minutes from the time he fell to the helicopter arriving to rescue them.

“It felt longer,” he added.

Montrose Search and Rescue team members also responded to the call of stranded hikers but did not have to hike in to get them because the LACoFD air ship had already arrived to hoist them out.

The two hikers were air lifted to safety. Sandoval was lucky to only have scratches and bruises. The simple hike had turned into a life-learning adventure.

Sandoval, Gurza, and their families stopped by the MSAR meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 7. Although the members did not have to hike in to find the boys the pair were grateful to know that MSAR is there for their community and wanted to thank them.

Gurza, and Sandoval would also like to thank the LACoFD for the rescue as well.

“I personally want to say thank you so much,” Gurza said.

He said he was impressed and grateful that there were people who would put themselves into a position to save someone they didn’t even know.

“Like us, who got too adventurous,” he said. “The fact is these people risk their lives. We are very grateful that we have people in the world who are so heroic.”

Sandoval had some advice for those who hike.

“Make sure you bring the right shoes and enough water and first aid is important,” Sandoval said.

Even if a hiker has walked a trail many times, as the boys had done on this trail, it is also important to note that terrain can change due to rains or high temperatures.

“Any time you go hiking or climbing there is always a chance of the unexpected,” said Janet Henderson, MSAR operations leader. “Rain can have a lot to do with [terrain].”

Henderson was not with MSAR team when the boys were air evacuated, but was at the meeting when they came in to thank them.

She said the team always appreciates when people come in to thank them for what they do. Some of the team members joined MSAR because they experienced being lost and were then found by a rescue team.

“We told the boys to come back to us [when they are older],” Henderson said. “They [can join the] team and give back to the community.”

  Mary Okeefe