Hiker, 21, dies in fall at Eaton Canyon
Hiker, 21, dies in fall at Eaton Canyon
By Nathan McIntire Staff Writer
Whittier Daily News
PASADENA - A 21-year- old hiker fell about 200 feet to his death Tuesday morning while hiking through a treacherous area in Eaton Canyon.
The Pasadena man, whom coroner's officials had not identified as of Tuesday evening, was hiking with Jesse Hernandez, 17, of Pasadena when he attempted to slowly slide down a steep slope and got stuck.
Hernandez saw the man freeze and attempted to come to his aid.
"I kind of grabbed a twig so he could hold onto it, but he just started sliding," Hernandez said. "He somersaulted once, and then I couldn't see him."
"I knew he was dead," he said.
After turning the man on his back and trying to stabilize his head, which had sustained severe trauma, Hernandez ran for help. He eventually found two men. One had a cell phone and called 9-1-1 just after 10 a.m.
Rescuers from several agencies arrived about 15 minutes later and hiked up to discover that the man was indeed dead.
About 10:30 a.m., 22 firefighters and search and rescue personnel from the Pasadena Fire Department, the Altadena Mountain Rescue Team, the Glendale Fire Department, the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the U.S. Forest Service hiked in to extract the body.
A long line of rescuers slowly emerged from under a bridge on the Mount Wilson Toll Road more than two hours later, carrying the man's body on a stretcher. The body was loaded onto a six-wheeled vehicle and driven to an area where a helicopter could land.
Once the helicopter landed, the man's body was loaded onboard and transported to the coroner's office, firefighters said.
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The body of a 21-year-old male being carried to be loaded in Los Angeles Search & Rescue Air 5 helicopter in Eaton Canyon. The hiker fell while descending from a waterfall near Eaton Canyon Tuesday, June 30, 2009. Hernandez rushed down to where the man landed and saw him hunched over a tree, covered in blood.
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