OUTDOORS/SPORTS
Saturday, October 30, 2021
installed tracks on an all-ter-
rain vehicle used in the rescue.
Ash said the sheriff ’s offi ce
had not yet swapped tires for
tracks on its ATVs, since most
search and rescue operations
in October don’t involve snow.
The rescuers reached
Borders at about 2:06 p.m. on
Monday. They started a fi re
to warm him and then guided
him, and his horses, back to
the trailhead.
Ash said the operation
was yet another reminder to
him of how selfl ess the volun-
teer search and rescue team
members are.
Several other people and
organizations also helped, or
were available if needed.
“It really took everybody
to make this happen this fast,”
Ash said.
The press release from the
Baker County Sheriff ’s Offi ce
stated: “The Baker County
Sheriff ’s Offi ce is extremely
grateful for our Search and
Rescue volunteers and commu-
nity partners. Without them,
searches like these would rarely
result in a positive outcome.
These dedicated volunteers
donate countless hours along
with their own equipment and
resources to help others. They
respond on evenings, week-
ends, holidays and in severe
weather conditions.
“We would like to express
our gratitude to the follow-
ing community partners:
Union County Search and
Rescue volunteers for joining
the search, Wallowa County
Search and Rescue volunteers
for being on standby, U.S.
Forest Service law enforce-
ment personnel for joining
the search and allowing use of
their side by side, U.S. Forest
Service mechanics for install-
ing tracks on the UTV, Roger
Gulick of Halfway, Oregon,
Baker County Aircraft for
being on standby, and the
Baker County Road Depart-
ment for installing tracks on
the BCSO SAR side by side
on short notice.”
Searches:
Continued from Page B2
He kindled a fi re the night
of Oct. 23 but was unable to
get a blaze started the next
morning with about 2 feet of
snow on the ground.
Borders then sent a text
message with his Garmin
inReach to let his friends
know he couldn’t fi nd the trail
and needed help. His friends
called the Baker County
Dispatch Center at about noon
Oct. 24.
Ash activated the Baker
County Sheriff’s Office’s
volunteer search and rescue
team at 12:20 p.m.
Ash, along with seven team
members, decided to try to
reach Borders via the Dead-
man trail near Fish Lake,
which is closer to the site than
Cornucopia.
Ash said rescuers were able
to relay a message to Borders,
through his friends, that he
should stay here he was, about
a quarter-mile from the West
Sugarloaf trail.
The team had side-by-side
ATVs but the terrain, and the
snow, made it impossible to
continue traveling in vehicles,
Ash said.
He and Logan Kerns went
ahead in snowshoes.
Although the snow had
turned to rain, Ash said he
would have preferred the
former, since it’s possible to
brush snow off clothes.
Rain just soaks in.
“It was miserable,” Ash
said. “Those were the worst
Baker County Search and Rescue/Contributed Photos
Volunteers had to cut many logs along the trail during the
rescue of a Baker County man stranded in the snowy Wallowa
Mountains on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021.
conditions I’ve ever faced in
the mountains. The wind was
blowing us out of our foot-
steps, and trees were crash-
ing down. The only time I’ve
experienced rain like that was
up in Alaska, halibut fi shing.”
Even after dusk fell, Ash
said he and Kerns were
spurred to continue.
Based on the messages
Borders had sent to friends,
in which he mentioned that he
had lost feeling in his feet due
to the cold, Ash said he was
concerned that Borders might
not survive overnight without
a fi re.
Ash said he and Kerns
were wearing high-quality
rain gear but the garments
couldn’t cope with the wind-
driven downpour.
Eve nt u a l ly, a r o u n d
11:15 p.m., the pair turned
back. They were about 2 miles
from Borders.
“We felt horrible,” Ash said.
But the situation was such,
he said, that he and Kerns
were concerned that even
if they managed to get to
Borders, they would them-
selves be so bedraggled by
the storm that “we would be a
liability and might need to be
rescued ourselves.”
“I honestly don’t know if I
could have gotten a fi re going
in that weather,” Ash said.
At 5 a.m. the next day,
Monday, Oct. 25, the Baker
County team, joined by
members of Union County
Search and Rescue and the
U.S. Forest Service, gathered
in Baker City and headed back
to the mountains.
This time the rescu-
ers started from the Russel
Mountain area, Ash said, after
learning that snowmobilers
had earlier this year cut trees
along a trail in that area, in
preparation for winter riding.
Conditions had improved
considerably, with the rain
having ceased, said Ash, who
coordinated Monday’s opera-
tion but didn’t join the rescuers.
The team managed to drive
a side-by-side, equipped with
tracks installed by the Baker
County Road Department, to
within about a quarter-mile
of Borders’ camp. U.S. Forest
Service mechanics also
Fog added to the challenge
during a rescue operation in
the Wallowa Mountains on
Monday, Oct. 25, 2021.
East Oregonian
B3
Troy Blackburn/Contributed Photo
Jaysen Rodriguez (3349) leads a contingent of
Hermiston runners at the Mid-Columbia Confer-
ence Championships on Oct. 21, 2021, in Rich-
land, Washington.
Bulldogs:
Continued from Page B1
Hermiston freshman Jaysen Rodriguez is
right there as well. He has been on Hartley’s tail
all season, and was second to Hartley in the MCC
Championships last week with a personal best time
of 17:17.40.
“He is such a mature kid, and he’s humble,”
Blackburn said of Rodriguez. “He has been a nice
surprise.”
Blackburn fi gures the Bulldogs will have to
place three guys among the top 21 to get the entire
team to state. That batch includes Logan Spring-
stead and Zach Turner, with Pedro Pacheco, Johnny
Mills and Grant Anderson fi guring in the points.
The Bulldogs will be without their No. 2 runner,
Miguel Duron. His family is Seventh-day Adven-
tist, which does not allow activities on Saturday.
“He chose not to run Saturday and we respect
that,” Blackburn said. “I tried to talk to the league
about it, but I may have to go to the state.”
In the girls division, Mead is the team to beat,
with Hermiston and Kennewick right behind.
The Lions beat the Bulldogs by two points for
the MCC title last week.
“We were very pleased last week with how close
we were without Liz Newman (family obligation),”
Blackburn said. “It changes things with Liz in there.
If they run like they did last week, we could be
second. After the three of us, there is a pretty big
gap. It’s about placing and it’s about pride. We are
done with Kennewick beating us.”
Kennewick’s Macy Marquardt is the hands-
down favorite Saturday. She has run a personal best
17:06.90 this season, and has the second best time
in the state behind Ella Borsheim of 4A Bellarmine
Prep (16:44.60).
Walla Walla senior Sariah Hepworth also is one
of the top 3A runners in District 8.
The Bulldogs have been led this season by soph-
omore Megan Joyce, senior Alexia Serna, junior
Ashley Treadwell and Newman. Jacqueline Garcia
Sandoval, Madeline Franke and Lillian Fields fi gure
into the scoring.
Blackburn said he has kept practice light this
week with 4 to 6 mile runs.
“Just fi ne tuning things,” he said. “We’ve also done
some speed work. Overall, it hasn’t been a killer.”
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