Updated: Local agencies crucial in LaDron Peak rescue

 

It took the combined efforts of the Socorro County Sheriff’s Department, Socorro Fire Department, New Mexico State Police and Socorro Search and Rescue to locate and rescue an injured hiker in the LaDrones Mountains near LaDron Peak last week.

On the afternoon of January 22, a 911 call was received from a 50-year-old female who had hiked with her two dogs to a point at around 9,100 feet on LaDron Peak and had fallen and injured her ankle.

“When the county Sheriff and Socorro Fire Department got the call they knew it was going to be a rough situation, so they requested Socorro Search and Rescue to help coordinate it,” said Search and Rescue’s Spencer Moreland, who was designated Incident Commander.

It didn’t take Moreland long to decide that a rescue by helicopter would be the most expeditious option.

According to the hikers’ site, alltrails.com, “(LaDron Peak) is an extremely challenging all-day, off-trail destination. Twin summits are separated by a deep saddle and protected by miles of steep, rocky terrain. Only the most experienced, fit, and prepared hikers should attempt,” the site cautions.

“The New Mexico State Police has a helicopter that we have used for search and rescue, so that was our primary option. To use the helicopter to hoist her up and fly her out,” Moreland said. “When she called 911 she had a GPS app and she was able to give some coordinates from that app to show where she was at,” Moreland said. “There was no way she was going to be able to hike out.”

The New Mexico State Police Helicopter, call sign ABLE 7 crewed by a pilot, a hoist operator, and a rescue specialist launched to the area to assist.

“The helicopter pilot found her exactly at the location she said she was going to be,” Moreland said.

Socorro Search and Rescue is a volunteer organization whose members consist primarily of New Mexico Tech students but also boasts several community volunteers. The local group acts as a member team of the New Mexico Search and Rescue Council under the direct authority of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and the New Mexico State Police.

In the meantime, Socorro County Sheriff’s Detective James Nance and Socorro Fire Department EMT Dustin Aldrich had already begun the arduous trek up the mountain. Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Gutierrez was standing by below with a NMSP officer.

Nance said he and Aldrich started walking up shortly after 11:30 a.m.

“There’s a pipeline road that the hiker followed, and we followed to the end of that,” Nance said.

He said the woman had followed a route she found on a hiker’s app.

“It’s called ‘mytrails’ or something like that, that shows a trail to the top of the mountain,” he said. “But there’s not really a trail there. It’s basically wilderness. But Dustin was able to download the same app, and we used that to figure out where she had gone.

“The route was extremely steep and rough country,” Nance said. “It’s pretty much wilderness. Nobody goes up there for, you know, any reason.”

He said they prepared for the climb the best they could.

“The ambulance came to the foot of the mountain with us but it would’ve been hard to bring a litter up with us, so Dustin brought a sheet with him in case we had to bring her down ourselves. If we really needed to,” he said. “We ended up using that to move her a little bit. But it would have been pretty much impossible to bring her down if it hadn’t been for the helicopter.”

Fortunately, the woman had intermittent cell phone service, “so we were able to talk to her on her cell phone a few times, a little bit at a time.

“It kept dropping out,” Nance said. “We went up there with the understanding that she wasn’t very far from her vehicle. Within three miles of her vehicle. And it wasn’t until we were halfway up that we realized she was all the way up at the top.

“It was quite the climb and was really, really steep,” he said. “She was lucky that she was getting any kind of cell phone reception from up there. Dustin’s cell phone wasn’t working well at all.”

Nance said where she had fallen, her cell phone was inconsistent making outgoing calls.

“We were at 9,100 feet so I took her cell phone and went more than 500 feet back down before I could make a phone call,” he said. “Once I could get in communication with everybody I was really happy because the helicopter was only 15 minutes out.”

The hoist mission by the crew of ABLE 7 (the helicopter’s callsign) which took place at about 4 p.m. was a success.

“ABLE 7’s crew located the injured hiker and her rescuers near the top of the mountain,” NMSP stated in a press release. “The NMSP rescue specialist was lowered down to the hiker where she and the Socorro Fire Department paramedic were prepared for hoisting.

“ABLE 7 then airlifted the injured hiker to a waiting Socorro Fire Department ambulance, and she was transported to an area hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening,” NMSP stated.

Once safely hoisted up, Aldrich accompanied the injured hiker in the helicopter, leaving Nance on the mountain.

“I walked down in the dark,” he said. “It took a long time to go down. I started right before sundown and knew I wasn’t going to have a lot of light so I got as low as I could before it became completely dark.”

He said the woman had taken her two dogs with her on the hike and they followed him down a lot of the way.

“After the woman was lifted, the dogs stayed up on top for a little while and I could hear them howling.,” Nance said. “She, of course, had told me the dogs names and I stopped and called them until they came to me and they stayed along with me for a little bit at a time. Then when I was about halfway, they came and checked back in with me.”

He said the hiker’s brother had been contacted and he had arrived from Las Cruces.

SSAR’s Moreland said the search and rescue team was standing by throughout.

“We like to have a plan B,” he said. “So, if something changes we want to have a team that could hike in there and get her into a litter and carry her out.”

As for the hike, Nance cautioned to be wary of online directions.

“We’ve seen some trouble when people follow online directions. It may show them a road that really doesn’t exist or existed at one time,” he said. “A lot of times when people get lost they follow something like Google maps or some other app, and it shows them roads or trails that aren’t really there.

“She seemed to be a competent hiker, but it’s a wilderness area up there. Up at 9,100 feet it was cold,” he said. “I wouldn’t say she was unprepared. She had hiking gear and a little food, some water.”

But she wasn’t prepared to break her leg, he said.

“She was just lucky she was able to make a phone call. If she hadn’t been able to, she would’ve died up there,” Nance said. “Nobody would’ve found her.”