Dale Matson
I received a call at about 1700 hours from our mission
manager to check my email about a missing man near Shaver Lake off Dinkey Creek
Road. The father of Kenneth Paul Young had received a text message from his son
saying that he had injured his ankle on his motorcycle and needed help. There
are more details from the Bee account. http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/03/12/3819440/fresno-county-deputies-search.html
The meet up location was about an hour away about 3 miles
out of Shaver Lake on Dinkey Creek road. I threw a 30-liter pack and three
plastic tubs of winter gear into my Tahoe and headed up the hill. It seemed a
little odd since the temperature in Fresno was 75 degrees at the time. Shaver
Lake is around 5,500’ and the search area was higher yet. By the time I turned
off Dinkey Creek Road the temperature had dropped to 37 degrees. I immediately
wondered how Kenneth would do if he was out overnight.
The IC Sergeant was there and talking with a
forest service person and the Sheriff’s deputy assigned to that area. They had
come across the abandoned motorcycle and gear and blocked off footprints
leading away from the bike. We had a photograph of the distinctive shoe sole.
Having a good print was a crucial bit of information for tracking Kenneth.
Our civilian team leaders Martin and Rich were conferring
with the IC while A.J., Daniel, and I got our gear together. Mike was there with
his search dog. The CP trailer and quad runners had not arrived yet.
Another team leader Russ arrived a bit later and began
getting his gear together. Winter in the mountains is a crapshoot in knowing
what to pack. It had rained on the way up and rain should always be expected. I
had rain gear and waterproof gloves, an insulated jacket, headlamp, energy bars
a Gatorade borrowed from Martin and a water bottle also. Most of us agreed not
to pack a sleeping bag for the extra weight. We figured we would be on our feet
all night anyway.
We were split into three teams and drove a couple more miles
to get us closer to the abandoned motorbike. Martin went with Mike and his search
dog. Russ and A J went together and Rich, Daniel and I teamed up. By this time
we were in darkness and switched on our headlamps.
As we worked our way along the road, we did find a couple of
tracks and Richard stayed with them for a time to build protection around them.
We had begun the hunt but the road surface was packed and tracks were few and
far between at that point. There were patches of snow and we did pick up a
couple of prints heading north. Once it seemed that the direction of travel had
been established, the teams came together. Mike and his dog had to turn back
and Richard went out with them.
The going was uphill and slow. Under these circumstances we
were looking for what could be called “track traps”. These are areas across the
road where a person would be more likely to leave a print. They are generally
mud, sand or snow. The road was covered with pine needles, which also obscured
tracks. We were looking for disturbed places also. Most of us had been schooled
under the master tracker Art Sallee and it was evident that Russ had the best
eyes and the most patience of any of us. As he held his light across and just
above the track it appeared to the rest of us. click to enlarge photos.
Russ at footprint
We communicated with the CP that we were on track and they
sent two deputies to leap frog ahead of us on their quad runners.
Because we had spotty cell tower communication, Russ was able to take cell
phone photographs and attach them to text messages to the CP in addition to
calling the coordinates of the tracks and other trail evidence. In the meantime another group of Sheriff's deputies came up behind us. the deputy on the quadrunner called us from up ahead to say that they had crossed a
snow patch and Kenneth had turned back and was headed our way. We had gone for
a mile with no sign of tracks but had found an energy bar wrapper along the way.
Kenneth had been walking down the center of the road so everyone was careful to
stay off to the side including the quad runners. Just before the quad runners
got back to us, we came across really fresh tracks coming back toward us.
Good print near
animal scat
At this point we were
really puzzled. The quad runners arrive as we continued to yell out for
Kenneth. We all headed back down hill and came across a fresh energy bar wrapper,
which contributed, to the puzzle.
and ran into the other deputies who found track on a lesser trail below and parallel to us. The
entire group spent about an hour in the brush finding an occasional track in
the snow patches but to no avail. It was speculated that he had been in this
area during daylight hours.
At about 0200 hours the deputies decided with Russ that we should
all head back to the CP. I was glad since my day had begun at 0400 the previous
morning and I was flat out tired. We covered about 8 miles on and off trail
based on my GPS readings.
My GPS readout
We got a ride the
final two miles back to the CP and I signed in at 0300 hours. As we headed back an additional group of volunteers who had arrived later were heading up the road. I downed a quick
cup of coffee from Martin and headed back down the hill. I arrived home at 0400
hrs. which is when I usually arise in the morning! I called dispatch and logged off.
Our helicopter, “Eagle One”, located Kenneth later in the day and, a
team was sent in to help get him back. I don’t know the particulars yet on what was going on in
Kenneth’s mind but I am glad he is safe again.
In terms of gathering of useful evidence, boots on the ground is number one. Probably the main three takeaways from this were the necessary good communication between teams and the CP, the ability and patience to track a subject at night and the necessary fitness required to begin a lengthy and arduous search at the end of a day.
For those interested in SAR stories, I wrote a book about several Fresno County SAR searches in which I participated. http://www.amazon.com/Seeking-Lost-Stories-Search-Rescue/dp/1613793855/ref=la_B005C6EAOO_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395079178&sr=1-1
ReplyDeleteLove the story. If you want to know what really happened talk to Kenneth Young which is me. Peace and love thanks for helping me get rescue. I owe you and your
ReplyDeleteHi Kenneth,
Deletewrite up a comment about it and I will post it on the blog.
Thanks for the response