55 Comb Mountainside for Hiker, 37
About 55 searchers from six mountain rescue teams were combing the rugged, snow-covered area on the west side of Mt. Baldy late Monday for an exhausted hiker believed to be suffering from hypothermia.
Steven Quinn, 37, of Long Beach was on a two-day hike with two friends from the East Fork of San Gabriel Canyon to Mt. Baldy Village when he became ill and was unable to go on, said Sheriff’s Deputy Hal Grant.
Quinn was left bundled in a sleeping bag at about 9,500-feet altitude Monday morning by his friends, an unidentified man and woman. The friends then hiked for five hours until they reached the village and got help. However, they could not pinpoint Quinn’s exact location, deputies said.
“There’s snow, sleet, hail and high winds up there,” said Deputy Ralph Estrada.
The searchers were working through the night and were accompanied by paramedics and a doctor, Estrada said. They were divided into teams of eight, each combing a specific area.
The volunteers were from the San Dimas, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s, Crescenta Valley, Sierra Madre search and rescue teams and the Mt. Baldy Volunteer Fire Department.
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