Apr 29, 2008 12:07 am US/Pacific
2 Drifters Safely Rescued Off Devil's Slide Cliff
HALF MOON BAY (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
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Highway 1, Devil's Slide as seen from Montara State Beach.
In a real life cliff-hanger, U.S. Coast Guard crews rescued two self-described drifters after they were stranded for two hours on a steep ledge at Devil's Slide near Half Moon Bay on Monday.
The two victims – 32-year-old Kristin Roach of Oregon and 27-year-old Harold Ketcher of Oklahoma – told CBS 5 they had parked their bicycles just off state Highway 1 and planned on walking down the cliff to the beach so they could light a campfire.
The shaley cliff proved too steep and slippery, giving way under their feet, causing them to slide down and nearly over a cliff around 3 p.m.
"We were like on our backs and we'd keep on sliding," said Ketcher. "It was just like, 'we're going to die."
A Coast Guard helicopter crew stationed out of San Francisco lowered one rescuer down by rope and pulled each person individually out of the cliff by about 5:15 p.m.
The two were then transported in the helicopter to the Half Moon Bay Airport. Both appeared uninjured and refused medical care, according to sheriff's Lt. Marc Alcantara.
Capt. Ari Delay, acting Division Chief of the Coastside Fire Protection District, said a third bicyclist – a friend of the two rescuees – had climbed back up the cliff to alert authorities about his stranded friends.
That third bicyclist – 22-year-old Robert James Harrington of Oregon – led rescuers to the spot where he left his friends, then later had to be taken by ambulance to San Francisco General Hospital for an injured shoulder.
Dozens of rescuers from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office also risked their own safety in the fog and rugged terrain as they lowered ropes down the hillside as part of a rescue plan separate from the Coast Guard helicopter.
"They were stuck on the side of the cliff, basically unable to go up or down," said Delay.
Ketcher said he was visiting from Oklahoma and is just "drifting" and traveling. He said the trio's packs with all their clothes and gear were still stuck on the cliff after their rescues.
Asked if he had any regrets, he said, "well, life's a learning experience … I probably won't do the same, but I don't really regret anything."
The incident shut down traffic in both directions along Highway 1 near the slide. The northbound lane re-opened at 6:15 p.m. and the southbound lane re-opened again at 7 p.m.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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