Hiker rescued after slipping down cliffside of Pacific Crest Trail in Riverside County

A hiker who was trekking the Pacific Crest Trail was saved after slipping down a cliffside in Riverside County. 

The exact date of the rescue was not noted, but Riverside County Sheriff's Office officials shared a post on Instagram recounting the treacherous event. 

"Rescue 9 was called to the Whitewater area of the trail, just south of San Bernardino County for this stuck hiker," the post said. "She was able to send an emergency text to 911 via her Garmin-type emergency communications device."

They called the rescue "intense" due to the precarious spot that the hiker got stuck, especially after she was exhausted from holding the same position for more than an hour with a heavy pack and unsure footing.

"That's definitely not the ideal spot for us to work with," said Cory Allen, one of the 10-person air unit that rescued the woman. "It's very, very challenging. As a crew, everybody has to be on their A-game for something like that, because ... worst case scenario, we could potentially swing our rescuer into her and knock her off the cliff."

Jason Beeman was the one lowered down to grab the woman.

"The rescue specialist determined the safest option was to bear hug her and climb to the top," the Instagram post said. "He could not risk asking her to lift her arms, that she was clearly death gripping the cliff with."

Even though the rescue took just a few minutes, Beeman says the woman was terrified she would still fall as they got to safety. He said he also felt the intensity in that short time.

"We train for this all the time. You know, we do a bunch of rescues. We stay pretty calm, cool, collected. We all wear our Garmin watches, monitor our heart rate because we're physically active and we always want to come back and see where we were at," he said. "I was creeping up into my threshold zone of the hear rate. So it was definitely exhausting."

Deputies did not note the woman's condition following the incident, but she appeared to be in good spirits one she and her rescuer reached the top of the hillside.

They say that she had been hiking PCT for about 20 days but decided that Monday's ordeal was enough to end her trip early.