ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST >> A mountain rescue team rescued a woman and her aviophobic dog after they became trapped at the base of 800-foot-deep ravine in the Angeles National Forest north of Altadena on Friday, authorities said.
Members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Altadena Mountain Rescue Team responded to reports of a distressed hiker about 3:30 p.m., sheriff’s officials said in a written statement.
“Sheriff’s Air Rescue 5 located a female adult hiker just south of Mueller Tunnel, off Mt. Lowe Fire Road, approximately 800 feet over the side of the cliff,” according to the statement.
Rescuers hoisted the woman into the helicopter and took her to a hospital for treatment of hypothermia.
The woman had been hiking with her 40-pound pit bull mix, named Zeus. But the flight crew was not able to capture the dog and were forced to leave it behind as they tended to its owner.
Montrose Search & Rescue Team members joined in the endeavor, and two rescuers were lowered to the dog be helicopter.
“A second attempt was made to secure the dog in a harness to be flown out, however the dog was not cooperative and Air 5 left the area,” according to the statement.
The stubborn pet, “didn’t feel like a helicopter ride,” Deputy Dan Paige said via Twitter.
So officials used hundreds of feet of rope to hoist Zeus, and the rescuers, up to the roadway.
The dog, which appeared uninjured, was taken to an animal shelter in Baldwin Park.
A civilian volunteer working on the rescue was injured when a large rock fell about 40 feet, striking him in the head, shoulder, arm and hand, sheriff’s officials said.
“The rock had knocked his headlamp off his helmet and rendered his right hand completely numb,” according to the statement. “The injured rescue team member bandaged his hand and hiked out on his own.”
It was determined at the hospital that the rescuer suffered a fracture and an inch-long laceration to his finger.
PHOTOS courtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department