OUTDOORS & REC
B2 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2021
SEARCHES
Continued from Page B1
The cost is $14.95 per month
for subscribers who don’t want to
commit to more than one month
of service, according to Garmin’s
website.
Ash said that although the
Sheriff ’s Offi ce has occasionally
received calls after a user acciden-
tally hit the emergency button, he
is a proponent of their use.
“They’re a very helpful tool,
and can be life-saving,” he said.
“I think it’s a great tool in that
sense.”
Both Ash and Galiszewski
also emphasize that other simple
— and free — precautions can
help backcountry travelers avoid
potential tragedy.
They urge people to always let
friends or family know their itin-
erary, and to set a time when they
will either return or be able to
send an update by phone.
That way, Galiszewski said,
people can call police if a person,
or party, is overdue.
‘It was miserable’
Ash’s story about the rescue of
Borders illustrates that dangerous
winter storms aren’t confi ned to
that season in the high country of
Northeastern Oregon.
Borders, who had four horses,
was packing in supplies from Cor-
nucopia, about nine miles north of
Halfway in eastern Baker County,
to a hunting camp near the Bak-
er-Wallowa County border.
The camp is near Soldier Lake
and Sugarloaf Mountain, at the
southern edge of the Eagle Cap
Wilderness, Oregon’s biggest wil-
derness area at 365,000 acres.
The terrain is typical of the
Wallowas, Ash said — steep,
rugged, heavily forested.
The elevation where Borders
was stranded is about 7,400 feet.
Borders rode out of Cornucopia
on Saturday, Oct. 23. The National
Weather Service had forecast a
major storm for the weekend, and
in blizzard conditions Borders
struggled to fi nd the trail as he
rode toward the camp, according
to a press release from the Sher-
iff ’s Offi ce.
He kindled a fi re Saturday
night but was unable to get a blaze
started on Sunday morning with
Baker County Search and Rescue/Contributed Photo
Fog added to the challenge during a rescue operation in the Wallowa Mountains on
Monday, Oct. 25.
about two feet of snow on the
ground.
Borders then sent a text mes-
sage 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 on
Sunday, Oct. 24.
Ash activated the Baker County
Sheriff ’s Offi ce’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 Deadman 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 con-
tinue 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 conditions
I’ve ever faced in the mountains.
The wind was blowing us out
of our footsteps, and trees were
crashing 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 Bor-
ders 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.
Eventually, around 11:15 p.m.,
the pair turned back. They were
about two miles from Borders.
“We felt horrible,” Ash said.
But the situation was such, he
said, that he and Kerns were con-
cerned that even if they managed
to get to Borders, they would
themselves be so bedraggled by
the storm that “we would be a lia-
bility and might need to be res-
cued 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 mem-
bers of Union County Search and
Rescue and the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice, gathered in Baker City and
headed back to the mountains.
This time the rescuers started
from the Russel Mountain area,
Ash said, after learning that snow-
mobilers had earlier this year cut
trees along a trail in that area, in
preparation for winter riding.
Conditions had improved con-
siderably, with the rain having
ceased, said Ash, who coordi-
nated Monday’s operation but
didn’t join the rescuers.
The team managed to drive
Baker County Search and Rescue/Contributed Photo
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.
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 Ser-
vice mechanics also installed
tracks on an ATV 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 volunteer search and
rescue team members are.
Several other people and orga-
nizations 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 Sher-
iff ’s Offi ce is extremely grateful
for our Search and Rescue vol-
unteers and community partners.
Without them, searches like these
would rarely result in a positive
outcome. These dedicated vol-
unteers 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 following com-
munity partners: Union County
Search and Rescue volunteers
for joining the search, Wallowa
County Search and Rescue vol-
unteers 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 installing 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.”
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