Search & Rescue Aids Three Back Country Campers
Heavy Storms Cut Short a Planned Seven Day Excursion
Three Santa Barbara County back country campers are home safe tonight after a week long excursion that was interrupted by heavier than expected rain storms.
On Monday morning, December 20, 2010 a concerned citizen contacted the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office to inform them that his friend and two other campers were in the back country when the deluge began. He said the trio was on a seven day hiking/camping trip, and was not due back until Tuesday, December 21, at the earliest, but he wanted the Sheriff’s Office to be aware that they were still in the back country. He said his 26-year-old male friend was an experienced backpacker, but that the friend’s 25-year-old girlfriend and the friend’s 57-year-old mother were inexperienced.
On Tuesday, December 21, 2010, Sheriff’s personnel assessed the situation. They took into account the experience level of two of the backpackers, the equipment the group had with them, the amount of water that had already fallen, and the weather forecasts predicting even more rain to come. The Sheriff’s Office decided to take advantage of the brief window of opportunity between storms and initiate a Search and Rescue operation before the rivers and streams rose any higher.
