On Saturday March 2, 2019, Joe Treinen called 911 Dispatch to report he and two friends were snow biking and were lost somewhere below trail 8. Dispatch was able to obtain coordinates from Treinen’s phone which showed he was just north of the watershed boundary near Bridge Creek Trail.
Treinen was provided a photo of a map and reported they would attempt to ride out. After approximately 1 hour, Treinen called to report they had only made it approximately 100-300 yards from their original position and the terrain was extremely difficult, especially with the recent snow fall in the area. They also reported the batteries on their phones were getting low without a way to charge them.
After another hour of attempting to get out without success it was determined they would stay in place as it was getting dark and Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Volunteers would respond to walk them out. They were able to make a snow cave to get out of the elements, however did not have a way to start a fire.
11 DCSO SAR Volunteers snowmobiled into the area and then snow shoed approximately one and one half mile to the snow bikers, arriving at approximately 1:00 a.m. They were provided snowshoes and walked with the DCSO SAR Volunteers back to the trail where they were provided a ride back to the Sno Park, arriving at approximately 4:00 a.m. The three snow bikers were uninjured and required no further medical treatment or evaluation and were reunited with family and friends.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office would like to encourage those traveling into the backcountry to have maps and/or GPS to help prevent entering into restricted and/or closed areas. We also encourage those individuals to have adequate supplies and be prepared to stay the night outdoors, if the need arises.
