OJAI : 2 Missing Hikers Found in Canyon

Two men who wandered off a well-kept trail in Matilija Canyon on Saturday spent two nights in the wilderness before being located by search-and-rescue crews early Monday, officials said.

James Seebirt, 56, of Ojai and his friend, Bill Hallfish, 59, of Camarillo made contact with rescue workers about 1:30 a.m. Monday when the rescue party lit up the canyon in which the two men were camping.

“We got onto a trail that was not maintained and was badly overgrown,” Seebirt said Monday at his Ojai home. The two men were given food and water, but required no medical attention.

“We were fighting our way through the dense brush, and it was just too time-consuming,” he said. “Darkness overtook us.” Ill-prepared for a night in the cold, the two men were able to light a fire and keep warm, slowly drinking what little water they had left.

“As long as you were right in front of the fire, your body temperature stayed all right,” Seebirt said. “But you reach behind you and you could feel the frost on your arms.”

By Sunday morning, when rescuers began scouring the mountains for signs of the men, Seebirt and Hallfish were out of water. A helicopter passed within 200 feet of them early Sunday, but the crew failed to see them through the dense thickets of brush, Seebirt said.

Armed with a compass and a map of the area, the two hikers found a creek and made camp Sunday afternoon before being found a few hours later.

“They wanted to walk out on their own and we, of course, said, ‘No way.’ ” search coordinator Glenn Conley said. “They’d been out 48 hours without food, proper clothing and water.”