PARTY SEPARATED, FATIGUE, DARKNESS, HYPOTHERMIA, CLIMBER LOST California, North Fork —Big Pine Creek

On Monday, October 12,1986, Debra Melvin (32) and her husband Mark ascended 4242 meter Polemonium Peak near North Palisade. Their route was the 300 meter, 50 degree ice chute called the “V” Notch. They topped out late in the day and apparently had no planned descent route. The Oakland couple spent most of the night searching for an easy way off the mountain. Having no map, they were disoriented enough by Monday morning to descend into the drainage to the South Fork of Big Pine Creek, thinking it was the North Fork of Big Pine Creek. This means that they had to have traversed around Mount Sill sometime during the night. They spent much of the day looking for their base camp before realizing their error. On Tuesday morning the couple finally reached their car at Glacier Lodge, which is the trailhead for both the North and South Fork drainages.

They drove to Big Pine for breakfast and then to Bishop to buy tennis shoes for Debra. That afternoon they started up the North Fork trail to retrieve the gear at their base camp on the glacial moraine below Palisade Glacier and above Sam Mack Meadow. At 2200 they separated, approximately 400 meters before reaching their base camp, because Debra was too exhausted to continue. Mark went on to retrieve as much equipment as he could carry, and Debra started down to Sam Mack Meadow.

In the darkness, Debra lost her way. Mark descended the trail thinking Debra was in front of him. Arriving at Glacier Lodge on Wednesday morning and not finding Debra, Mark started back up the trail thinking he had somehow passed her during the night. He hiked the nine kilometers to Sam Mack Meadow before he decided that he needed help. Mark returned to Glacier Lodge and notified the Inyo County Sheriff at 1400 on Wednesday.

China Lake Mountain Rescue Group was called at 1546 on the pager system and eight members, headed by Lee Lucas, drove to Glacier Lodge. One Inyo County SAR team was on the trail at that time. Two CLMRG teams were fielded Wednesday evening. These teams were to search the area bounded by the point last seen (PLS) on the moraine, Third Lake (which is below the moraine) and Sam Mack Meadow. They spent the night walking into the area. That evening a CRMRA call out was initiated. WOOF teams were also called.

On October 16, seven more CLMRG members arrived. A radio relay was established near Logging Rat and base camp was moved from Glacier Lodge to Big Pine. Another CLMRG team was fielded to proceed to Third Lake. At 0830, a set of tracks was found leading down through the intermittent snow and rocks on the bench above Third Lake. At the same time, a set of tracks was found by another team at Third Lake. A Huey from Edwards Air Force Base arrived. A WOOF team and Mark Melvin were flown to Second Lake, which was as high as the helo was able to safely land. The WOOF team was sent in to work with trackers at Third Lake. By 1040 the PLS had been reached and a similar set of tracks had been found leading down the moraine. Tracks had also been found leading around the north side of Third Lake toward Second Lake.

At 1250 an automobile key was found next to a track on the shore of Third Lake. Mark identified it as the key to their vehicle. This concentrated the search in the drainage between Third Lake and the roadhead. By 1330, several Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit (BAMRU) teams were fielded (which included a BAMRU bloodhound) along with three more WOOF teams. Some of these teams were to slowly sweep up the drainage toward Second lake while others were to move directly to the area of Second Lake.

At 1350 Lucas left to return to China Lake and Hinman took over as operation leader. At 1420 Debra was located by trackers on the southwest side of Second Lake. She was physically in good condition except for dehydration, slight hypothermia and blistered and swollen feet. Mentally, she was totally disoriented and completely unaware that she was lost. She was given food and water and helicoptered out on a CHP Ranger by 1540. (Source: Linda Finco, China Lake Mountain Rescue Group)

Analysis

Searchers first saw Debra at 20 yards and called to her. She ignored the calls and started to walk away. In her mental condition she didn’t feel she was in any danger or in need of rescue. The moral is that victims don’t act as you think they would and may not respond to searchers’ calls. Debra later recounted that she had been hallucinating most of the time and passed the -10°C nights by continually walking. Her tracks indicated that she had wandered around aimlessly and that at times she was within a few feet of the main North Fork trail. She had moved only about three kilometers during her ordeal. (Source: Linda Finco, China Lake Mountain Rescue Group)