Whitson 44, set out on June 13 with his ninth-grade son and his wife. Ramirez, eager to show them the wild beauty of the Arroyo Seco (a river in central California). The first night, they built a 1 and pan-fried a steak, 2 it with chocolate bars for dessert. The last thing any of them 3 was that they would become 4.
А 5 that was supposed to be secured at the top of the slide — the only safe way down — was 6. There was no way to climb out of the gorge. The rope had been 7 to the slippery rock wall when Whitson had made the same journey seven years before. At the time, he'd carefully lowered himself down the side of the waterfall and continued his 8.
Thoughts raced through Whitson's mind: 9 spring rains had likely washed the rope away. There was no other way to 10 get down. Friends knew they were in Arroyo Seco, but it might be several days 11 a search party was 12. There was no cell service. He desperately 13 a plan.
Whitson looked at his water bottle and he suddenly had an 14: He 15 "HELP!" on each side of the bottle and wrote an SOS note on a piece of paper with the 16, June 15, and their whereabouts — then put it inside. The bottle sailed into the pool and then 17 through the narrow passageway. It was a very long shot. Fortunately, they didn't wait long. About a quarter mile downstream, two 18 had spotted the bright green bottle right away; read the 19 and hiked to the Arroyo Seco Campground to alert (向……报警) the manager to 20 a search and rescue team.
