Edhat Staff
Two hikers were airlifted from Romero Trail after veering off-path and becoming stuck on Saturday afternoon.
Santa Barbara County Search & Rescue, Montecito Firefighters, and County Air Support responded to the incident around 2:00 p.m. after receiving a report of stuck hikers at the top of Romero Trail near the Romero Saddle.
“The subjects, a father and son, began their hike in the morning and hiked up Romero Trail and then became off trail and followed the creek up further in loose shale and rocks,” according to Search & Rescue.
The pair was stuck on a cliff and unable to move upwards or downwards without fear of injury prompting them to call for assistance.
Rescue teams were able to access the location on foot and assist the father up the hillside to the top of the trail. The juvenile was hoisted via County Air Support Copter 964 to the Romero saddle to be reunited with his father.
Both subjects were assessed for any injuries and transported back to the Montecito area and released.
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good work SAR team. thank you once again, for saving people! you do a wonderful job at what you do <3
Wow, that’s dumb.
Sure was. They should have stayed home on the couch complaining online about people needing help while adventuring outdoors.
I remember the days of the scanner reports. I got injured on a trail run and had to be carried out by rescue teams. I combed through the edhat scanner reports and WHEW I didn’t make the list.
MM1970 – see? People shouldn’t be afraid of being shamed and belittled by armchair “outdoorsmen” for having an accident or getting lost and using the very services we pay into for this very purpose.
thank you, Sac 😉 you beat me to it
“Doc” did you confirm their pain level was above 3 and diagnose the sprain before making this conclusion?
I wonder how much that helicopter ride cost them. Maybe next time call a friend with a rope?
BIKECOMMUTER – I don’t think it costs them anything, as I understand from all the times people ask this on these rescues. It’s weird…. every time, without fail, there’s an article about any type of rescue, be it land or sea, people come here to blame the people in need of said rescue. Why? Why blame people for needing the services that are precisely for that type of rescue?
They wandered off the trail and out onto some sort of ledge where they got stuck. Accidents happen, but I wouldn’t say this was an accident.
Is that your professional opinion as a ranger or doctor? Or as a 50 ton master captain?
Don’t forget armchair aquatic biologist!
Ah yes, the Master of “studying insects.” A veritable expert in every field in which he is challenged.
LOL! ok that was funny.
no…sac…he’s a champion arm chair warrior/hiker/surfer/knowitall
Search and Rescue are such a wonderful community resource. Glad this father and son team had the sense to call when they knew they were at risk of injury getting down. It takes humility and wisdom to
call for help.
LOVESBALOT – exactly. People shouldn’t be shamed by armchair doctors for admitting they need help and may have gotten in over their heads. Think of what our society would be like people stopped being adventurous and getting outdoors.
Keep charging it in the wilderness, folks!
For those who want to hike to the top of Romero, beware there’s an intersection where the hiking trail (lots of shade from trees) and the old fire road (a lot less shade) meet. This is where an important decision needs to be made.
Regardless of whether you took the hiking trail or the fire road to get to that intersection, most people will continue on the fire road towards the *west* to get to the top. That offers the best views and easiest (but much longer) route whether you’re on foot or on a mountain bike.
But at the intersection if you take the continuation of the hiking trail to the *north*, which is the shorter route, you run the risk of getting cliffed out. That section of trail isn’t maintained (much) and has plenty of loose shale which varies in difficulty each season. This is where I’d wager the father/son ran into trouble.
Romero is a great hike and can be done safely with the above info and a little prep. We’re lucky to live in a place with trails like this.