16 hikers spend frigid night awaiting rescue after sending SOS, Oregon cops say
A group of 16 hikers spent the night in frigid weather awaiting rescue, Oregon deputies say.
A Coos Bay man sent an SOS using a Garmin device shortly before 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 28, after the group couldn’t continue on its Rogue River Trail hike, the Curry County Sheriff’s Office said in an April 1 news release posted to Facebook.
The man told dispatch that the group was “wet and cold due to the inclement weather and that some of the boys had blisters on their feet,” the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies spoke with the man, who said he hiked out of the area with one of the boys who did not feel well.
As it was after nightfall, deputies said they decided it was best to wait for daylight to search for the group.
Deputies said they enlisted the help of a search and rescue member, as well as a United States Forest Service worker, who knew the trails well.
The pair took a boat up the river to Gleason Bar, about 4.5 miles from Rogue River Ranch, deputies said.
They then hiked the trail and found the group of 16 hikers near Rogue River Ranch, according to deputies.
After checking the group for injuries, deputies said the two hiked with the group back to the boat.
Some of the group was taken back up the river in the boat, deputies said, adding they made a second trip with an additional boat to pick up the rest of the group.
Rogue River Trail, a “37.2-mile point-to-point trail” about a 215-mile drive southwest from Bend, is considered challenging, according to the hiking website AllTrails.
“The trail is rated DIFFICULT due to the remote nature of the trail, tall cliffs, the potential for downed trees, landslides and high water in creeks,” the United States Forest Service says.
This story was originally published April 2, 2024 at 2:13 PM with the headline "16 hikers spend frigid night awaiting rescue after sending SOS, Oregon cops say."
