An unexpected storm trapped a Live Oak High School graduate, his
friend and their dog in the Sierras this week, but all three were
airlifted to safety Thursday.
An unexpected storm trapped a Live Oak High School graduate, his friend and their dog in the Sierras this week, but all three were airlifted to safety Thursday.
Jon Bumgarner, 28, Shana McCarthy, 24, and Rufus, age unknown, had gone camping Saturday at Dinky Lakes in the Sierra National Forest, south of Yosemite in Fresno County.
When they did not show up for work Monday morning, their employers became concerned and notified authorities.
Bumgarner’s mother Marlene, a Gavilan College instructor, said Thursday afternoon that she was very relieved.
“We are very proud of them both,” Bumgarner said. “They did all the right things to stay safe.”
The couple was spotted early Wednesday evening near their tent by a Fresno County Sheriff’s rescue helicopter but weather prevented their rescue until Thursday.
Bumgarner praised the rescue workers.
“I can’t say enough good things about the (Fresno) sheriffs, the Forestry Department and the search and rescue people – they were so kind and patient.”
A 15-member rescue team tried again Wednesday night to reach the camp site three miles away on foot and by snowmobile but, Bumgarner said, the snow was too slushy and they gave up only a half mile from their goal. The helicopter team tried again Thursday morning during a short window when the fog lifted. They were successful.
Rufus, wearing a new muzzle, was carried onto the aircraft by Bumgarner. It was on the dog’s account that the pair only hiked in three miles. Experienced hikers, they normally go 13 or 14 miles, Marlene said, but since Rufus is old and arthritic, they took a short, easy hike instead.
Bumgarner worked at Sonoma Outfitters and Marmot in Santa Rosa, where he learned the tricks of staying alive in dangerous weather and the benefits of good gear, which they had, his mother said.
The three kept each other warm and shared their remaining food, rationed when they realized they would be staying awhile.
Bumgarner, a 1993 Live Oak graduate, is general manager of Mother’s Tavern in San Luis Obispo where the couple lives. They graduated in 2003 from Cal Poly, Bumgarner with a degree in English, McCarthy in soil science.
The storm, which blew in late Sunday, trapped two other hiking parties and contributed to the deaths of two Japanese hikers climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
A San Benito County water district manager, John Gregg, 64, and Gene Powell, 70, of Campbell were rescued Wednesday afternoon after being trapped in the snow for two days in Tuolumne County mountains. Heavy snowfall prevented six marines and a Navy doctor from the nearby Mountain Warfare Training Center from bringing the two men out after the team reached them at 2pm Tuesday.
