Three groups of missing hikers rescued

[Sequoia]

HOORAY!!!

Oakhurst, Madera County -- All three groups of hikers from the Bay Area and Santa Cruz region that had been stranded in the snowbound central Sierra were found alive and well this morning.

Rescuers taking advantage of good weather to launch air searches found four men from Lafayette and San Anselmo in the mountains south of Yosemite National Park. Four members of a winemaking family from Soquel were airlifted out of the snow east of Fresno, and a group from the Peninsula and Santa Cruz area was rescued from Mount Whitney.

California Army National Guard searchers flying in a helicopter over the Ansel Adams Wilderness located the Lafayette-San Anselmo group shortly before 10 a.m. and airlifted them to safety.

<snip>

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/10/21/FOUND21.TMP

Sorry about the Japenese hikers on El Capitan though. Prayers to the families.

[Dookus]

1. that's fantastic!

Been really big news here in Santa Cruz.

[Trajan]

2. Love the Oakhurst/Coursegold area ...

Yosemite is my Elysian Field ...

The Valley is my Church ....

The Towering Edifices are my Cathedrals ...

[maxsolomon]

3. hiking season is over

don't go up there without snowshoes, dudes.