Nature day marred by hot temperatures

The annual fifthgrade Wildwood hike brought a few students to Los Robles Hospital and others to nurses' offices Monday when the heat became too much for them.

The hike, which included students from Lang Ranch, Wildwood and Ladera elementary schools, was led by teachers and a park ranger; an EMT was also on hand.

Brad Baker, principal at Lang Ranch, said two of his students were taken to the hospital.

"There were some kids who had some problems with the heat," Baker said. "When they started looking bad, they called 911 and got it taken care of. They also slowed down the walk, and when I went down there, I ended it a half-hour early."

Linda Rosen's twin girls were both on the hike- one loved it and the other, Melanie, was nearly taken to Los Robles before Rosen intervened and took her daughter home. Melanie suffered an asthma attack and experienced dehydration.

"When I went to the office, I told them that I thought they should have canceled it because of the heat- it really was very hot," Rosen said. "But they handled it very well. Mrs. Gina Mandell, the teacher who helped her, was a hero to my daughter. And everyone else was great, too, especially the paramedics."

After 911 was called, Baker said, he went to the site of the hike and then followed the kids to the hospital. He said he went back several times.

"I felt good about the way they responded to everything," Baker said.

Some parents in addition to Rosen felt that the school should have canceled the hike because of the heat, as temperatures soared into the 100s Monday.

"At 9 o'clock in the morning when the kids left, we didn't know it was going to be 100 degrees," Baker said. "It's not all hiking. There's a good walk into Wildwood and then they went to the amphitheater and saw a show. I hear they saw turtles and found eggs."

Lang Ranch fifth-grader Jacob Boss said overall the hike was "cool," as he saw a porcupine, a turkey vulture and a red-tailed hawk in the animal show. He also saw a rattlesnake on the path.

He said more of his peers were afraid of the bugs than of the heat.

"It was really, really hot," said Jacob. "One kid got dehydrated, and one fell and scraped her leg. Mostly people were afraid of the bugs. There were a lot of ticks, and they were on people."