MENDOCINO CO., 7/10/25 – Two mountain bikers who had become lost in a rugged region of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest in Mendocino County on Sunday were led back to safety by a search and rescue team the following day, the county Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.
On Sunday just after 6:30 p.m., two women aged 49 and 50, from Novato and Oakland respectively, were reported by one of their spouses as being “disoriented in the forest” and in need of help, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies were able to locate the women’s vehicle at the Camp 1 recreation area known by locals as the “Egg Taking Station.”
The women’s approximate coordinates were able to be detected via GPS, but showed that the pair were deep in thick vegetation in a spot inaccessible by even an all-terrain vehicle. Any rescue of the women would have to be done on foot, the Sheriff’s Office said, and the county’s search and rescue team was summoned to coordinate the operation.
The foot search began along trails and roads in the general area off the parking lot, but the search was paused at dusk until daybreak, the Sheriff’s Office said.
On Monday at 6:20 a.m., the search and rescue crews hiked to the women’s location and found them after traversing between 2 and 3 miles of steep, rugged terrain, reaching the bicyclists at about 8:20 a.m.
The place where the bicyclists were found was under a thick tree canopy and very rugged, so much so that not even a helicopter could assist with their rescue, the Sheriff’s Office said. All they could do was hike back with the search and rescue personnel, who ultimately delivered them out of the forest and back to their vehicle.
Both women were uninjured.