Point Reyes coast rescue includes some from Sonoma County

[rlown]

I couldn't resist. 20 somethings on a learning excursion.. Evidently, we have lots of helicopter rescue time in Mendo/Sonoma/Marin counties. I think it was quoted somewhere that Henry 1 (Sonoma sheriffs chopper) costs $2600/hr.

Four men, at least two from Sonoma County, were rescued Monday night after being stranded for hours in a remote area in the Point Reyes National Seashore.

Two helicopters were used to pluck them men from a beach and a cliff, said John Dell’Osso, park spokesman.

The four were on a late-afternoon hike in the west Marin County area of Palomarin beach and were headed north when they ran into trouble from the rising tide, Dell’Osso said. The popular but remote coastal area is northwest of Bolinas.

“They ran out of beach and scampered up a cliff about 50-70 feet and saw a path down to the other side. Only two of the four went that way and were down on the beach and the other two stayed up on the cliff,” Dell’Osso said.

A call for help came at about 8:45 p.m., launching about two dozen Marin County sheriff’s search and rescue members, plus a few dozen more of Marin County and Bolinas firefighters, park rangers, CHP officers as well as the CHP and the Coast Guard helicopters.

The only physical repercussions were to one hiker who suffered scrapes and poison oak.

Dell’Osso said lessons from the incident include that all coast hikers need to be aware of high- and low tides and that climbing up or down coastal cliffs can be extremely dangerous as the areas typically aren’t stable.

The names of the hikers, all believed to be about 20 years old, weren’t available Tuesday afternoon. Dell’Osso said he was told one man was from Boyes Hot Springs and one was from Sonoma.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport.

source: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/54394 ... e-includes