The San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team (SDMRT) went out searching for a missing hiker. But what they couldn’t know is that in addition to finding the lost 78-year-old, they would find someone they weren’t even searching for.

The California rescue team, which is tasked with locating missing hikers on Mt. Waterman, set out to search for Ki Soo Yang. Yang had been out with a group of friends who were attempting to climb Mt. Waterman. Once the group made it back to the parking lot, they immediately realized Yang was missing.

San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team members search for a missing man. Photo by SDMRT

SDMRT said the hiker was “a very fit, experienced and prepared man.” The rescue group set out the following morning, and began searching along the mountainside with search dogs, rescuers said. That’s when they had their brush with fame.

“We found our missing person — and ran into Jay Leno along the way!,” the rescue team wrote in a Facebook post. Rescuers had stopped at Newcomb’s Ranch, “which just so happened to be where Jay (Leno) and his friends rendezvoused for a drive,” the group said. 

Unfortunately, they hadn’t seen our missing hiker,” the group said.

However, Leno, who had been the host of “The Tonight Show” for nearly 22 years until his retirement, did pose for a photo with the rescuers. Leno brought the group a bit of luck, because not long after they ran into a hiker who had seen the missing person flier and had recognized the missing Yang.

The hiker told the team that Yang had been in a spot of the forest between Mt. Waterman and the Twin Peaks hiking loop. Rescue teams found Yang and he was taken to a nearby hospital. After having spent nearly 30 hours in the wilderness with little food and water, Yang was fine other than being dehydrated.

“We are incredibly grateful to everyone involved in the search, especially the good Samaritan whose quick thinking and action played a critical role in this rescue,” rescuers with the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team said.

“We advise all hikers to be prepared since you never know when you might be the first person on scene.” They recommend that when hiking, make sure you have your essentials, such as first aid supplies, extra snacks, clothing that can be layered as well as water, in case they find someone lost or hurt while they are hiking.

The group reminded hikers that hiking essentials such as first aid supplies and extra snacks, water and layers of clothing can come in handy if they encounter a lost or injured person in the wilderness.

Sources: Sacramento Bee | People