Rodger Walker, 52, and his son, Scott, were "marching off to their death in the wrong direction" when they were discovered near the Twin Meadows area, southeast of Spicer Reservoir, Calaveras County sheriff's Capt. Michael Walker said.

"Every single piece of their equipment and clothing was soaking wet," he said Wednesday.

"They used the last of their fire-making equipment the night before. If they weren't found when they were Tuesday, they probably would have frozen to death (Tuesday) night," Walker said.

He said the two were found about a mile and a half from where authorities found their car near Spicer Reservoir dam. But with the snow and the direction the Walkers were heading, "there was no way they would have gotten back to their car," he said.

The two experienced hikers traveled Friday to the Sierra to hike near a pair of high-country lakes in the Stanislaus National Forest and were supposed to return home Sunday. But when they didn't return by Monday morning, Jeanne Walker, Rodger Walker's wife, reported her husband and son missing.

Search and rescue teams from Alpine, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties began a massive search that stretched from the Highway 108 side of the Dardanelle Mountains over into the Spicer Reservoir area but found no sign of the two.

Searchers continued working throughout the night and into Tuesday but were hampered by a second storm that brought heavy snow and high winds. But at 2 p.m. Tuesday, a Calaveras County volunteer search and rescue team, aided by a border collie, picked up the Walkers' tracks and found the two soaked and hungry but uninjured. They returned home Tuesday night.

Capt. Walker said the hikers were out Saturday night when a strong storm moved in and dropped snow in the area. "When they woke up, they had no bearings for reference points," he said.

Tom Humphries and Ted Fahlen, the volunteer searchers who found them, said it was luck that saved the hikers.

"They were really headed toward harm's way," Humphries said. "They were wet, cold, wearing cotton, out of fuel, out of food and going the wrong direction."

Neither hiker could be reached for comment Wednesday. But Jeanne Walker said they told her they were blinded by snow and couldn't find the trail. She said her husband told her he was feeling close to hypothermia and wasn't thinking and reacting as quickly as he should have been.

"He said he shivered for three straight days," she said.

Benicia hikers rescued after frigid 3-night ordeal
By MATTHIAS GAFNI, Times-Herald staff writer
Published Wednesday, October 20, 2004

After spending three nights in sub-freezing, snowy conditions in the Iceberg Wilderness Area, a Benicia man and his 12-year-old son were found alive and healthy Tuesday afternoon.

Rodger Walker, 51, and his 12-year-old son, Scott, were found at about 2 p.m. and were in good condition, despite severe winter conditions, officials said.

The two left Friday for a camping trip near Bear Valley Mountain Resort, about halfway between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park, a Tuolumne County Sheriff's Department dispatcher said.

After spending Friday night in their pickup truck, the Walkers planned to hike near Spicer Meadow Reservoir over the weekend, the dispatcher said. They were to return home Sunday night and the father was supposed to start a new job Monday, she said.

Rodger Walker's wife reported them missing at about 9:30 a.m. Monday, officials said.

Search crews from surrounding Alpine, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties searched Monday and Tuesday for the father and son, despite snowy conditions. Their car was found at the Spicer trailhead with some gear inside, officials said.

The pair apparently spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights in the wilderness in terrible weather, the dispatcher said.

"It's bad out there right now," she said, estimating that at least a foot of snow fell over the last few days. A Calaveras County deputy said the daytime high temperature in that area was about 32 degrees, with high winds.

The two were found in the Twin Meadows area of the park, not too far from the path they originally took, he said.