Six hikers airlifted off Mt. Baldy days after remains of missing 22-year-old found
Six hikers stuck in the snow at 9,000 feet on Mt. Baldy were rescued by an L.A. County Sheriff’s Department team on Wednesday. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Enforcement Bureau)
Six hikers who were trapped in the snow at about 9,000 feet on Mt. Baldy were airlifted to safety Wednesday, authorities said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff‘s Department’s Air Rescue Team retrieved the hikers, the department posted on social media. A video of the rescue on Bear Canyon Trail posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, shows the hikers walking across a snow-covered slope to a helicopter.
The rescue came days after the remains of missing 22-year-old hiker, Lifei “Ada” Huang, were found on Mt. Baldy in the Angeles National Forest. The El Monte resident had disappeared after going hiking alone on Feb. 4 just as historic winter storms hit Southern California.
Search-and-rescue crews looking for Huang were stymied by avalanche and snowfall risks, authorities said. Her body was eventually recovered Sunday morning.
Three other hikers were rescued on Feb. 7 after they got lost on a Mt. Baldy trail and had to spend the night in frigid temperatures.
Those hikers, who were found above 4,000 feet, were experienced mountaineers, according to the Sheriff’s Department, but got lost when darkness fell on Bear Canyon Trail
More to Read
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.