Joshua Tree Rangers Respond To Multiple Holiday Weekend Incidents

Last weekend was one of the busiest holiday weekends on record for protection rangers at Joshua Tree due to unseasonably warm weather that brought a high number of visitors to the park:

• Friday evening – Rangers were called out to a report of a possible dead man in the Sheep's Pass Group campground. They found the body of a 30-year-old man from Kansas City, a probable suicide victim. County deputies and the county coroner are leading the investigation.
• Saturday afternoon – The park received a report of a possible diabetic emergency on the West Loop Trail near the Black Rock campground. Initial reports were that a woman in her 50s had lost consciousness. Rangers, county fire and ambulance personnel, and JOSAR, the park’s volunteer SAR team, responded. They were preparing for a carryout when the woman hiked out of the backcountry without assistance. She declined transport or further medical treatment. Later on, rangers responded to a motorcycle accident with two injuries a mile inside the park’s west entrance. California Highway Patrol officers lead the investigation; rangers managed the scene without incident during heavy outbound traffic and reduced lane clearance. The accident occurred when the operator failed to negotiate a curve. Alcohol was a suspected cause.
• Saturday evening – A ranger on patrol in the Jumbo Rocks campground was flagged down and advised of a possible overdue hiker in the Queen Mountain area. The 34-year-old San Diego man was last seen on the north side of the mountain, about three miles into the park’s backcountry. He reportedly had very little equipment with him and was wearing only light clothing. Nighttime temperatures at the time were around freezing, so rangers rated the search as high priority. JOSAR was called out and a county helicopter was requested. As JOSAR members were hiking in, the crew of the helicopter spotted the man near the point last seen with infrared scopes and hoisted him aboard. He was very cold and slightly dehydrated, but recovered quickly with water and shelter. The outcome would likely have been much worse had the reporting parties not contacted a ranger.
• Sunday – Rangers received a report of a hiker who was three days overdue from a trip into the Coxcomb Mountain area. During the search for the missing hiker’s vehicle, rangers also responded to an out-of-bounds campfire which had escaped in Pinto Basin and a report of a child locked inside a vehicle in the Jumbo Rocks campground. The search for the overdue hiker’s vehicle continues.
• Monday night – Rangers received a call reporting a lost man and five children in the Desert Queen Mine area. They had no food or water and were not prepared for cold nighttime temperatures. They walked out just as responding rangers and a county deputy arrived at the trailhead.