Very good to get victim out of there alive and also finally understand what is up that drainage...it may sound crazy but we always wondered what it was like up there. Possibly our first SAR in that drainage just south east of Frustration...Just a couple notes:
This rescue after the 5 hour search involved 3 belayed lowerings; the first one of 90ft & the next of also about 90ft & another of 30ft of the litter team & victim from the initial victims location at the cliff bottom to the grow extraction point within the inactive grow. Around 1 am we decided this semi clear buck brush area offered the best manageable clearance for a hoist with the least amount of clearance & maintenance work. To get Chris there we had 8 on the litter & 1 handling the belay. Slope was never more than 20 to 25 degrees for that section & route into the grow. Within the grow we dug 3 leveled out bivy sites for the victim & rescuers to share. The grow was well fertilized with Miracle grow & urea of some sort...very smelly & bad for the streams...
Larry served as safety & carried 200ft of dynamic & I had 175ft of 9mm static & 100ft of dynamic. We all kept our harnesses on from insertion at 6833ft to Hiway 38 at 4727ft as the terrain was unknown & very uneven. We ran into spiders, carpenter ants, scorpions & Lion tracks. Known injuries were limited to buck brush scratches & poison oak rashes.
Good planning by 4P5 to get team 2 from Cave up that drainage from the bottom when he did. Pilot Al Daniels & Crew Chief Steve Miller's initial insertion LZ care along with instructions & trauma kit instruction from Doc Evans during the planning stages were a major contributor to the success of this victim's survival. Jake, during his 20th birthday, also secured additional help from another airship with lights to help team 1 avoid addition fall & rock fall exposure at the upper end of that drainage.
We pray Chris Derrick makes a full & speedy recovery.
- bill's blog
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