Injured Hikers Rescued from Hot Springs Trail

Update by Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue
June 15, 2021

Yesterday afternoon SBCSAR responded for a lost hiker in Montecito up above Hot Springs trail and the old hotel ruins. The hiker had become lost above the creek and was unable to find a route safely down to the trail. SBCSAR responded around 1 pm to begin searching, after trying to find the hiker’s location County Air Support Copter 1 was called in to assist with locating the subject. After locating by air, ground teams with difficulty due to terrain and heat, made their way to the hiker well off trail on a ridge and brought the hiker back down to the awaiting vehicle for transport down to the trailhead.

As members were transporting the first hiker down to the trailhead, a second call for service was received for a hiker suffering from heat-related illness on a trail in an adjacent canyon. After receiving GPS coordinates, teams began to mobilize and respond to the new call near the San Ysidro Trail with Montecito Fire and AMR with a request in for Air Support due to accessibility concerns and heat.

Just as County Air Support Copter 4 was coming overhead, the hiker, a female in her 20’s was located on the access road with her hiking group. SBCSAR provided care and brought the hiker down to a vehicle to hydrate and cool until Montecito Fire and AMR could provide additional care to the hiker.

SBCSAR would like to remind those hitting the trail to be prepared with water, a fully charged phone and to hike in the cooler hours of the day in the morning or evening. Please also keep in mind if taking our four-legged friends that they can overheat and dehydrate very fast and the trails can burn the pads of their feet during extreme temps. Please be safe and enjoy your outdoor recreation!

By Roger the Scanner Guy
5:50 p.m., June 14, 2021

Injured hikers on Hot Springs Trail, I can hear Search and Rescue looking for them.