ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST >> A sheriff’s search and rescue team found and rescued eight members of UCLA’s Hiking Club early Sunday who had become lost and mildly hypothermic while hiking deep in the Angeles National Forest, authorities said.
Twelve students were hiking Saturday near Throop Peak, at an elevation of more than 8,000 feet, when eight of the hikers became lost, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said. The other five members managed to find their own way out of the forest.
Search an rescue teams from the San Dimas, Crescenta Valley and Palmdale sheriff’s stations responded to a 9-1-1 call about 6 p.m. Saturday reporting the eight missing hikers, sheriff’s officials said in a written statement.
Rescuers plunged into thigh-deep snow drifts as they searched for the missing hikers, officials said.
Members of the Montrose Search and Rescue Team, based out of the sheriff’s Crescenta Valley Station, found the missing group about 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
“The students were elated to see the rescue team, some being mildly hypothermic,” according to the statement. “None of the students required medical attention, and were taken back to their cars.”
Rescuers secured the hikers with harnesses and ropes as they escorted them from the forest to prevent them from falling down the icy slopes, officials added.
According to the statement, “It took rescuers six hours to hike out the students due to the treacherous conditions.”

PHOTO courtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department