This Year's Eaton Canyon Rescues (So Far) (Patch Chart)
With two deaths in the news lately, we review our documented Eaton Canyon rescues for the year so far.
The Los Angeles Times noted this week in response to the two recent deaths of hikers in Eaton Canyon that rescues at the canyon are up this year.
A member of the Altadena Mountain Rescue Team told the paper that there have been 48 rescues this year so far compared to about 30-40 total on average in recent years.
We don't pick up all the calls for service that go out, but we get a lot of them, and here are the ones that we consider serious (we omitted several lost hiker calls, and several others near Eaton Canyon but not right in the infamous falls area).
We're assuming the figure of 48 includes calls that don't result in airlifting or hospitalization. All of the below incidents, except for one, do involve one or the other, or both, and are a good list of the most serious incidents that the canyon has seen this year.
| Date | Number rescued | Description |
| 1/16 | 2 | Two hikers were hospitalized in separate incidents, one falling about 50 feet, one tumbling about 200 feet down a hillside. The one who fell 50 was "severely injured" |
| 1/21 | 2 | Two young men were airlifted after they felt unable to climb down off the second waterfall. They climbed up with a violin so one could play for the other. |
| 3/6 |
1 |
A teenager broke his leg and suffered hypotherma in Eaton Canyon |
| 4/4 |
1 |
A hiker broke his leg above the first waterfall and was airlifted out. |
| 4/15 |
3 |
Three autistic men got lost and were later walked out by rescuers. |
| 4/27 |
3 |
One hiker fell and broke his arm, two others were airlifted out. |
| 7/6 |
2 |
Two 20-year-olds got stuck in the area above the first waterfall and rescuers were able to help them climb/walk out. |
| 7/18 |
4 |
One hiker injured his ankle and was airlifted and three others had to be escorted out. |
| 8/1 |
1 |
A hiker died after falling in the waterfall area above Eaton Canyon. |
| 8/7 | 1 | A Montclair hiker died after he slipped and fell while climbing in the area. |
Geoff
4:57 am on Thursday, August 11, 2011
This one dated 01-22-2011 appears to be at the falls:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt8lzIpZpuk
Dan Abendschein
11:05 am on Thursday, August 11, 2011
Thanks Geoff, I'm sure there are more that we have missed. If anyone knows about them, feel free to add via comments.
Barbara Ellis
5:05 pm on Thursday, August 11, 2011
Saw the search and rescue copter landing at the Huntington today, about 1:30 pm. Any idea if this was another rescue?
Dan Abendschein
8:05 pm on Thursday, August 11, 2011
@Barbara - I talked to Altadena Sheriff's today and they said no rescues.
Mika David
9:35 pm on Saturday, February 4, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llfD9i3Qf0c&feature=g-upl&context=G2a89a3bAUAAAAAAAAAA
last march 2011, this happened to my friend. we were making our way from the first waterfall to the second. tried to call 911 but had no reception. luckily our friend toughed it out :)
SteveB
10:04 am on Sunday, February 5, 2012
"This is so awesome how there's like .... death on both sides of us."
A perfect illustration of how/why we are having so many rescues. Thanks for sharing, though - I've read descriptions of that ridge/trail - truly a case of pictures being worth a thousand words.