Emigrant Wilderness, CA…Steven Morales, Christine Ricks and Venu Aruva were on a backpacking trip in the Emigrant Wilderness and planned to return home on Sunday, 10/16/16. When Steven did not return from the trip his son notified the Sheriff’s Office. The three planned to obtain a wilderness permit prior to entering the wilderness so dispatch contacted the US Forest Service. A permit was on file under Christine Ricks and there were three people in her party. The permit was obtained on 10/12/16 with a planned entry date of 10/13/16, and exit date of 10/16/16. The trail head they were leaving from and returning to was Kennedy Meadows and their destination was Sheep Camp.

The three overdue hikers were located near Sheeps camp. At some point during the trip the hikers took a wrong turn and did not cross the creek before the storm came. Due to the water rising in the creek they were unable to cross and decided to camp out for a few days until it was safe to cross. When Search and Rescue contacted the hikers they had crossed the creek and were hiking out. They were given water and a medical eval by Search and Rescue and found to be in good physical condition. They requested to hike out on their own and were shown the trail to take.
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