A driver who survived four nights of cold and freezing temperatures in mountainous terrain near Los Angeles was rescued and hospitalized Sunday, a sheriff’s official said.
The woman’s exact condition and injuries were unavailable, but Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. William Fillpot said she was stable. The woman told rescuers she went off the road in her Ford Ranger pickup truck some time Wednesday, he said.
Fillpot said deputies were looking into the possibility the driver swerved to avoid striking a deer.
She was discovered inadvertently by a Los Angeles County firefighter who happened to be in the area and noticed the pickup over the side of Mt. Baldy Road near its 3-mile marker about 12:30 p.m. Sunday, he said.
Rescuers pulled her from the wreckage and airlifted her to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, Fillpot said.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
The 13-mile road takes motorists from the foothill city of Claremont to Mt. Baldy Resort and Mount Baldy itself, which climbs to 10,064 feet and is the highest point in Los Angeles County.
Mount Baldy, also known as Mount San Antonio, is in the San Gabriel Mountains, about 50 miles east-northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Weather in recent days has been relatively cold, with lows near 30 degrees and highs in the low 50s, according to National Weather Service data. It was not clear how the woman kept warm or whether she had food and liquids.
Mt. Baldy Resort, which reported it received a few inches of natural snow last week, said high winds forecast for the area Sunday would push temperatures into the single digits.
