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It was a busy weekend for Inyo County Search and Rescue.
A broken leg suffered on Mt. Whitney started out the weekend on Friday. The second call of the day was the search for an overdue fisherman in the Bishop Creek Drainage. SAR volunteers were sent up to search the creek near the Four Jefferies campground for signs of 75-year-old San Diego resident John Nelson. Nelson had gone fishing and not returned to camp by early evening.
Nelson was found deceased in the creek Friday evening and taken to the Brune Mortuary. Whether the man slipped and fell, or died of a medical condition then fell into the creek has not yet been determined, according to Leon Brune.
As that call wrapped up, the SAR volunteers headed to Mt. Whitney for a medical call on the trail. A ranger was walking the extremely cramped victim down the trail toward the trailhead. SAR team members put the sick man on oxygen, which helped him walk out. This mission was wrapped up by midnight.
 Saturday, two hikers called 911 to report that they were stranded on a ledge high on University Peak above Independence. With daylight fading, the two were instructed to hang tight for the night. Three SAR volunteers started off before dawn to hike up to the men.
Early Sunday the rescuers spotted the two men from San Diego on a ledge between University Pass and University peak. The two had hiked to the top of University Peak, but took a different and incorrect path down from the peak.
Amid serious rock fall, the SAR volunteers climbed about 400 feet of fifth class rock to the men. After a refresher on rappelling techniques, the rescuers and the stranded men rappelled to the base of the peak and walked home via Robinson Lake. All were happy to be alive.
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