Rescue Crews Save Two Hikers Stranded At Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

PALM SPRINGS – Two hikers were stranded in Palm Springs but were rescued a couple of hours later, sheriff’s officials said today.

Joe Silins, 27, of Arizona, and Chris Miller, 35, of Indio, were hiking the trail from Palm Springs to the Aerial Tramway around 4:20 p.m. Saturday when they became stranded on the snow and ice, said Sgt. Sean Bahash of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The men did not know each other but met on the trail, and neither of them were prepared for the weather conditions, Bahash said.

The hikers called 911 and the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit responded and reached the hikers around 7 p.m.

Silins and Miller suffered mild hypothermia. When the rescuers found them, they started a campfire to raise the hikers’ body temperature, Bahash said.

The rescuers and hikers were expected to hike out of the area early Sunday.