On Sunday, Joshua Tree fire fighters were called to Joshua Tree National Park two times. Fire Captain Steve Lasiter said just before 11 a.m., a motorcycle rider was seriously injured when he came around a curve about a mile inside the western entrance to the park, and found traffic stopped in the road. When he tried to avoid hitting the cars, he lost control of his motorcycle. Lasiter said the Mercy Air helicopter was unable to fly to the park due to Sunday’s high winds, and so the man was taken to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs via ambulance.
Then about an hour later, just after noon, Joshua Tree firefighters and National Park search and rescue personnel were called to rescue a rock climber who had fallen at Headstone Rock, near the Ryan’s Ranch area. Captain Lasiter said Joshua Tree Search and Rescue lowered the 38-year-old man, who was unconscious with a head wound, to the ground. Again, Mercy Air couldn’t make the flight to the Park due to the high winds, so the climber was taken to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs by ambulance. Lasiter added there were so many people in the park this weekend that the traffic significantly impeded their ability to get to the scenes.
