Rescued Teen Hikers Recovering in California Hospital
Rescued teens haven't been able to reunite since ordeal.
April 6, 2013— -- Two teenage hikers who became lost and separated on a Southern California trail were recovering from dehydration today in the hospital after spending days in the wilderness without food and water.
Kyndall Jack, 18; and Nicholas Cendoya, 19; were being treated at two separate hospitals and were both listed in stable condition.
The teens haven't had a chance to reunite since they set out for the hike last Sunday near Trabuco Canyon, Calif., spurring a grueling four-day search as family and friends held out hope both teens would be found alive.
"I can't wait to see her and give her a hug and tell her we did it," Cendoya wrote of Jack on his Facebook page.
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Cendoya was located by another hiker Wednesday, disoriented and wearing no shirt and no shoes. He was airlifted to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, where staff told ABC station KABC-TV in Los Angeles he was now eating normal food.
Rescue crews worked through the night, scouring the rough terrain in hopes of finding Jack. She was located Thursday morning wearing no shoes and clinging to a ledge.
"She was very dirty, up on a small little ledge ... in the fetal position holding on," L.A. County Sheriff's Reserve Deputy Fred Wenzel told KABC. "She asked me what year it was. She thought it was the year 2030. She was very confused."
Jack was airlifted to University of California - Irvine Medical Center.
It's unknown how the two teens became separated, but they were believed to have gone off the trail near Holy Jim Trail, a tree-lined dirt path along a creek that leads to a waterfall and is popular with day hikers.
In the 911 call, they said they were about a mile from Jack's car, which was parked at a trailhead, but rescuers expanded the search when they weren't found nearby.
The area is in a section of the national forest in the Santa Ana Mountains, which lie along the border of Orange and Riverside counties southeast of Los Angeles. The trail ranges in elevation from about 2,000 feet to about 4,000 feet.
