San Gorgonio Search:

By DAVID DANELSKI
The Press-Enterprise

Two lost hikers stranded by bad weather on Mount San Gorgonio have been found by three rescuers and all five were spending Sunday night on the mountain and planning to hike out at daybreak.

The two men, age 27 and 29, started their hike about 8 a.m. Sunday and got lost after hitting bad weather, said sheriff's spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire.

Wiltshire didn't known the type of weather they ran into, but a cold front moved across Southern California on Sunday and brought freezing conditions to some mountain areas, rains in the desert and strong west winds in parts of Riverside County, with gusts approaching 55 mph, authorities said.

A dusting of snow fell on Mount San Jacinto and ridges below, said a spokeswoman for the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.

On Mount San Gorgonio, one of the hikers managed to get a cell phone text message to his wife and she called authorities about noon, Wiltshire said. A Yucaipa-based search and rescue team started both ground and air searches.

The hikers were first located by a helicopter, which dropped off one of the rescuers and supplies despite heavy winds, Wiltshire said. The three were later joined by two more rescuers on foot.

They decided to camp for the night because it would more dangerous to try to hike out in the darkness of night, she said.

More cold weather was reported in Idyllwild.

"This is our first storm and things are starting to track this way," said U.S. Forest Service Battalion Chief Greg Ross, based in Idyllwild. "It's overcast, cold, with traces of hail. It's 35 degrees here."

City News Service contributed to this report.

Reach David Danelski at 951-368-9471 or ddanelski@PE.com

See http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_N_hikers11.46ab5e9.html