By: Tina Forde, Reporter, Tehachapi News
Posted by
editor Monday, September 27, 2010 - 10:37
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Mountains are unforgiving to those who make a mistake in direction or judgment.
That's why Tehachapi Mountains Search and Rescue team stands ready to pick up the pieces.
The 35 highly trained team members hope to find living persons and bring them out of the wilderness.
“It's a joy to bring them home safely,” said Capt. Jeff Snyder of Tehachapi Search and Rescue and a reserve Kern County Sheriffs Deputy.
Half the time, unfortunately, it's a body. Or bones.
“At Sand Canyon last year a dog carried in a bone,” said Search and Rescue Administrative Lieutenant Jayne Miller. “They called Search and Rescue and we found every bone. They could identify who it was and it gave the family some peace.”
In the 14 years she has been a volunteer in the organization, Miller has come to specialize in tracking. She reads footprints and detects other clues.
“It has everything to do with light,” she said. “It's amazing how much you can see when you start looking.”
One tracking trick is to use mirrors to reflect off the depressions in the ground.
Most of the searching begins at night, she said, after a person is reported missing when they don't turn up at the end of the day. By the time the Sheriff’s Office and Search and Rescue are notified, she said, it's 2 a.m.
“It's easier at night,” she said. “There's no traffic and people to contend with. We use lights. When it's snowing it's great. Seeing tracks in the snow — it's terrific.”
She said the chance of finding a lost person alive is 50/50.
Miller joined after she saw how much her husband was enjoying the volunteer work.
“I love the outdoors. I love to hike. I love to help,” said Miller, who is administrative secretary for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools in Mojave in the ROP program.
Wide area
Capt. Snyder is a veteran of more than 21 years on the Search and Rescue team, which responds to distress calls from all over the Tehachapi Mountains, up to the Kernville area, over to Highway 223, to Frazier Park and out on the Mojave Desert.
They have been called to assist in rescues at Mammoth, in Fresno, San Luis Obispo, Malibu and elsewhere, said Snyder, who works for Lockheed Martin in Palmdale.
The training is constant; the calls are sporadic — “Every two to three months in-county and out-of-county,” he said.
Some calls might be a body recovery, he said and others might be someone trapped on a ledge.
“It might be someone trapped in the snow. We're snow-trained and we are professional trackers. We can track them from the pavement, through snow, dirt and land.”
Volunteers take a 40-hour class to learn to track and find evidence.
The team members also learn how to track lost Alzheimer's patients, haul injured people up steep cliffs and locate downed aircraft.
They utilize quads and four-wheel drive vehicles in the searches.
They buy their own gear, which is purchased through donations and fundraisers.
The non-profit, all-volunteer organization operates under the Kern County Sheriffs Office, is certified by the National Association for Search and Rescue and is a member of the Mountain Rescue Association.
Members visit schools to explain what they do and tell the children how to stay safe in the outdoors.
“We tell them to hug a tree if you get lost,” Snyder said. “We can come and find you.”
Background check
The team meets every second Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Golden Hills Community Services District except in July and December.
Once-a-month training in the field is mandatory, and it's often more than that, Snyder said.
The team recently practiced the intricacies of hauling an injured person up a steep cliff at Mountain Park — an effort that includes knowledge of pulley systems, safety harnesses, spotters, anchoring on rocks and familiarity with the equipment.
In addition to the 35 members, Snyder said, “six are waiting to come on,” and they are always looking for more volunteers.
To be a member of the search and rescue team, a person must be at least 19 years old, attend three meetings, undergo an interview with several members, pass a background check and execute a four-mile hike with a 24-hour pack (25 to 30 pounds).
For information on Tehachapi Mountain Search and Rescue, call Snyder at 972-4201 or e-mail him at jksnyder72@msn.com.
