10 lacking hikers rescued from California canyon because of Apple SOS function

A California search and rescue crew got here to the help of 10 lacking hikers within the “Final Probability” space of an Higher Ojai canyon because of an Apple emergency function. 

Members of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Workplace Higher Ojai Search and Rescue Crew had been first alerted to the hikers at round 8 p.m. native time on Might 12, according to a news release. The hikers, who had been within the Santa Paula Canyon, had used Apple’s Emergency SOS function on an iPhone to ship a textual content message which contained what the search and rescue crew described as “precious info,” together with their attainable location. 

The SOS feature enables your iPhone to name a neighborhood emergency quantity, and share location info. On some iPhone models, the function works by way of satellite tv for pc to textual content emergency providers even when the telephone shouldn’t be related to mobile information or Wi-Fi. 

Guardians for the hikers, who had been late to their return, additionally contacted sheriff’s deputies to report the themes as lacking and presumably in want of help. 

The Santa Paula Canyon path is a six-mile hike in Ventura County, with an elevation acquire of greater than 3,700 toes. A neighborhood mountaineering web site describes the terrain as rugged and tough. The “Last Chance” portion of the canyon is a path that connects the Santa Paul Canyon part to a different mountaineering path, and has one other excessive elevation acquire. The “Final Probability” path is about seven miles lengthy. 

13 members of the search and rescue crew arrived on the Santa Paula Canyon trailhead at round 8:30 p.m. native time, the sheriff’s workplace stated. The crew hiked about 4 miles into the canyon, the place they discovered the hikers. 

Situations weren’t supreme, the sheriff’s workplace stated: Rescuers confronted low visibility, crossed a number of streams and handled trails that had been broken by heavy rain. 

At about 11:15 p.m., the crew discovered the lacking hikers. Most of them had been “not ready for the hike,” and had been supplied with meals, consuming water and lighting gear by the rescue crew. At about 2:40 a.m., the rescue crew and the hikers reached the top of the trailhead, the place they reunited with their guardians. 

The hikers didn’t want medical help, the sheriff’s workplace stated. 

Kerry Breen

Kerry Breen is a information editor and reporter for CBS Information. Her reporting focuses on present occasions, breaking information and substance use.