Lost Hiker Rescued From Santa Rosa Mountains In La Quinta

A helicopter landed at the trailheads behind the La Quinta Cove around 9:30 Thursday carrying a hiker who had spent the night lost in the Santa Rosa mountains.

“I’m an experienced hiker,” said Craig Robertson, “and I have no business being off trail.”

Robertson said he had climbed the Bear Creek Oasis Trail several times, but somehow missed the turn to get back down. He ended up two miles away from the trail and found himself in the steepest parts of the canyon.

He was stuck.

“Those canyons were 200-foot drops. They were very, very steep,” he said. “If you went through the waterfalls, they were 30-foot drops.

The temperature overnight reached 40 degrees. Robertson had extra clothing, extra food and three liters of water with him.

The search and rescue team was unable to fly over Robertson Wednesday nighs because of high winds.

He suffered mild hypothermia and dehydration.

“When I saw the search plane circling, I knew that they had seen me. If they had not, I would not have lived.”