Cesar Ramirez says he wasn’t worried when his 17-year-old son and a friend set out on a ten-day hike on the Pacific Crest Trail near San Gorgonio Mountain in Southern California on February 26.
Riley Ramirez, 17, of Cypress, Texas, and Cole White, 17, of Portland, Oregon were experienced hikers who had enough food in their backpacks. They brought a tent and snowshoes, and were well-trained for the trek.
However, when the snow began to massively fall in the mountains east of Los Angeles, Ramirez lost contact with his son and his friend via a tracking app. February 28 was the last time his son and companion were heard from. The dad immediately contacted the Sheriff’s Department of San Bernardino County, which dispatched a helicopter to the hikers’ last known location. They tracked the boys’ footprints and were able to locate and rescue them on March 3. According to Ramirez’s father, his son had lost his jacket in the wind and their tent had been destroyed.
The boys were sure they were going to die.
The fortunate rescue occurred as California struggled to dig residents out of up to 10 feet of snow following several storms that pummeled the state. Governor Gavin Newsom declared states of emergency in 13 counties, including San Bernardino, where the massive snowfall caused road closures, power outages, collapsed roofs, and trapped some residents for days.
The boys were hypothermic but were fortunate to be alive, according to Sergeant John Scalise of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. They had huddled together for three nights to stay warm. According to the officer, they were well-prepared for the hike but not for the enormous amounts of snow.
On Saturday, another powerful storm dumped even more snow on Northern California mountain areas, prompting the National Weather Service in Sacramento to issue a winter storm warning that lasted until early Monday.