Camper found at home after straying from hike

Search team called off after woman at church camp hitchhikes from Camp Colby.

By Ryan Carter
News-Press

February 19, 2003

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST -- A 21-year-old Los Angeles woman was found safe at her home Monday -- an interesting circumstance given that mountain search crews were in the forest above La Canada Flintridge looking for her.

The woman apparently wandered from Camp Colby, off of the Upper Big Tujunga Road, about 20 miles above La Canada Flintridge, officials said.

"She was about two hours late for the bus home," Montrose Search and Rescue Team Capt. Jay Paneno said, adding the woman had been on a hike early in the afternoon with a church camp.

She had apparently become upset over something and hitchhiked home, Paneno said. She never returned to the camp, and camp staff found only her backpack and luggage. This prompted camp staff to call the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station. Eight Montrose Search and Rescue Team members arrived about 4:30 p.m. on the damp, overcast afternoon.

But the search ended about an hour later.

"We were setting up our base camp at Camp Colby and getting ready to send search teams out when the camp called home and found out she had been taken home."

She was uninjured, Paneno said.

Canceled searches such as Monday's are not all that unusual, Paneno said. About one in four team calls end up being canceled before an all-out search. Many involve a ditched stolen car or an angry hiker who decides to hitchhike home, team members said.

"We've had situations where people have ended up at a friend's house or even a bar while we ended up looking for them all night," Montrose Search and Rescue Team Operations Leader Alan Edwards said.

Paneno said it's always good to know when somebody makes it home unharmed.

"In a way we are relieved," Paneno said. "But it still puts wear and tear on equipment."