Thoughts on the lost San Gorgonio hikers

If you haven't heard, three hikers from Oceanside were lost up on Mt. San Gorgonio from Saturday until yesterday. Hiking only in T shirts and shorts, they apparently lost the trail in the snow near the summit (at 11,500 feet the tallest in Southern California). A fourth hiker who headed back after a couple of hours of hiking got worried Saturday night when the three didn't return and so he contacted Rangers who got rescue efforts started.

Now I fully admit I'm pretty much a noob at this hiking in the mountains thing, so I tried really hard to understand their circumstances. And maybe we don't yet know the full story. But here are some of my thoughts on this situation.

First, let me say how glad I am that they were found - safe and relatively healthy. That's great news.

But honestly, who looks up at the summit, sees the snow they know they are going to have to cross, and takes off anyway, wearing only shorts? And having apparently overslept at their campgrounds, forcing a late start to the climb - still head up on a 10-12 mile (one way) hike?

I guess what got me riled up was how the media started referring to these three as "experienced hikers."

No, experienced hikers have maps or GPS. They don't get summit fever and postpone an attempt if conditions (like late starts and snow) call for it or change.

And they know enough about local conditions to dress appropriately. They might even look at overnight forecasts or forecasts based on altitude to see what they really need to take along.

So, maybe my beef is with the media. Maybe the hikers didn't label themselves as experienced.

Seeing the video, they sure looked relieved to have been rescued.

And while this was going on, another group of hikers went and got themselves lost coming down from San Jacinto's summit.

They were found after they had somehow gotten off the main trail and walked over to the Ranger Station near the tram station, where they spent the night.

So the positives from these incidents? Well, southern California has an excellent search and rescue process in place. And, sadly, they get called out too frequently.

Many of these teams are comprised of volunteers. So when you see a Ranger, or you see the SAR teams out on practice - say thanks to them. They're the first responders for us hikers and I for one and glad they are there and so good at their jobs.

Now, it's back to training for my own attempt at San Gorgonio. You can bet I won't be wearing shorts!