Morongo Basin first responders were kept busy yesterday (Monday, September 9) with two incidents. At 6:55 p.m., they responded to a call of a sick hiker on the Forty-nine Palms Oasis trail in Joshua Tree National Park. The hiker was located by Joshua Tree search and rescue, then airlifted off the trail by a Sheriff’s helicopter and brought to a Morongo Basin Ambulance unit staged at the trail head. The 42-year old man was taken by ground to Hi-Desert Medical Center.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Laura Harris, 58, of Yucca Valley, was driving a 1992 Chevrolet S10 pick-up truck southbound on Old Woman Springs and had stopped to wait for traffic to clear northbound for her to make a left-hand turn onto Eureka Road. The car behind her was able to take evasive action avoid the stopped truck. However, a motorcyclist behind the car, Brian Blythe, 42, of Joshua Tree, did not see the stopped truck and was unable to avoid it. His 2000 Suzuki TL1000R crashed into the rear of the truck. Both Blythe and his passenger, Jeanie Gilbert, 42, of Twentynine Palms, were thrown from the motorcycle and suffered major injuries. Jeanie Gilbert was flown by Mercy Air to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs. Brian Blythe was taken by Morongo Basin Ambulance to Desert Hospital.
