The man hiked off-trail before sliding down a slippery, steep mountainside as temperatures dropped to 17 degrees in the Mount Pinos area
NEED TO KNOW
- An elderly man became stranded overnight after hiking off-trail and sliding 1,000 feet down a mountainside in the Mount Pinos area
- Officials and volunteers helped to rescue the man on Jan. 9 as temperatures dropped to 17 degrees
- Bakersfield Search & Rescue shared several photos of the winter rescue mission
A team of volunteers rescued an elderly man who became stranded overnight in below-freezing temperatures.
The rescue unfolded in the area of Mount Pinos, which is located in the Los Padres National Forest in California, on Friday, Jan. 9, according to Bakersfield Search & Rescue and the Kern County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO). Local NBC affiliate KGET was first to report the news.
The 69-year-old man started off hiking a known trail on Thursday, Jan. 8, but later went off-trail, a KCSO spokesperson said in a news release shared with PEOPLE. After abandoning the trail, he “began hiking off-trail for hours in an unknown direction,”…