Tourists trapped in a waterfall in California, they were saved thanks to a letter in a bottle

Three people from California were trapped by a waterfall along the tributary of Arroyo Seco, they managed to get out only thanks to a letter in a bottle, where they asked to save them. Writes about this The Washington Post.

Фото: Depositphotos

Curtis Witson, his girlfriend, and 13-year-old son found themselves in an isolated section of the Arroyo Seco tributary in California. They reached the hardest part of their four-day voyage and were trapped on top of a raging 40-foot (slightly larger than 12 m) waterfall.

The rope that was supposed to be anchored at the top of the rock—the only safe way down—was missing. There was no way to get out.

A strong rope was attached to a slippery stone wall when Witson made the same journey seven years ago. At that time, he carefully descended the slope of the waterfall for 15 minutes and continued his journey.

Witson thought that heavy spring rains probably washed away the rope. There was no other way to go down safely. He had another rope in his camping gear, but the water was too high and the current too fast to try to attach the rope and go down.

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The victims knew where they were, but also knew that it might take several days before the search team went in search.

There was no cellular connection at the place where everyone was stuck either; Witson understood that he should urgently come up with a rescue plan.

Whitson looked at his lime green Nalgene water bottle and suddenly had an idea: He scratched "HELP!" On each side of the bottle and wrote a note asking for help on a piece of paper, wrote the date and their location there - then put it inside. He threw the bottle into the waterfall and silently asked the universe for someone to find it downstream.

“We did everything we could,” Whitson told his girlfriend Crystal Ramirez and son Hunter Whitson after he threw the bottle into the water. “Now all we have to do is wait.”

It is noteworthy that they did not have to wait long.

They also managed to climb a little upstream and lay out the word SOS with stones

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Then they climbed into their sleeping bags. Around midnight, a voice from the speaker woke them:

“This is a search team — you’ve found it!” Stay where you are and we'll be back to pick you up tomorrow morning. ”

Witson realized that his message in the bottle was discovered several hours after he threw it into the water.

“I’m amazed at how perfectly everything came together,” he said. “What were the chances?”

Whitson, 44, a self-employed glass and door repairman from Morro Bay, California, went June 13 with his son and girlfriend, a 34-year-old bartender. They wanted to see the incredible beauty of the Arroyo Seco, a 40-mile (64 km) tributary of the Salinas River in central California.

“This is paradise off the beaten path - a great place to go sailing and get away from the crowds,” he said. “We were all looking forward to camping.”

They spent the first night of rest by the fire, grilled a steak and were happy. The last thing any of them expected was that they would be trapped.

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On the third day, when travelers realized that they could not go down the wall to continue their journey, Witson originally cut “We need help!” On a stick with his pocket knife and threw it into the water. When he noticed that the stick was spinning in the water, but did not swim, he decided to try again, using his water bottle.

“He asked if I had something to write with, and I remembered I brought pens and paper so I could keep score of the games,” Ramirez said.

On a piece of paper, Witson wrote the date, as well: “We are stuck at a waterfall. We need help. You are welcome". This time everything turned out perfectly, the bottle fell into the water, and then disappeared through a narrow passage.

“It was a sad realization that our trip was over and we needed help,” Whitson said. “Every inch down this river led us to the place where we were stuck.”

“It was a little scary,” Hunter added. “We didn’t see a single soul during the whole trip.”

Ramirez was glad that they told friends where they were going.

“I knew our friends would call someone at some point when we didn’t show up,” she said. “But I was worried about how long it would take to find us.”

Later they learned that about a quarter mile (about 0,5 km) downstream, two travelers immediately noticed a bright green bottle, read the note and went to Arroyo Seko camp to warn manager Cindy Barbour that they needed to call the search and rescue team.

“They told me they found the bottle,” Barbour said.

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Although the rescue operation quickly became too dark, the pilot of the California Highway Patrol helicopter Todd Bretur decided to start the search with his crew.

Using night vision goggles and infrared technology to detect heat from a bonfire, they were able to detect stuck travelers.

“We were all asleep when suddenly we heard a helicopter right above us,” Ramirez said.

They jumped up and down. They hugged and cried.

The next morning, a second California Highway Patrol helicopter crew arrived at 10: 00 to take each of them to a safe place.

“As you can imagine, they were very happy to see us,” said pilot Joe Kingman.

He added that for the 23 year of saving people, he first heard about salvation because of a letter in a bottle.

“A lot of the puzzles came together just right for these people,” Kingman said.

About a week after their rescue, Ramirez bought a gift for her boyfriend: a new bottle for water. And inside I hid a love note, and she is sure that the guy will find her

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