Woman scales Angeles National Forest mountain she survived, thanks rescuers

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST (KABC) -- A woman who spent a night in near-freezing temperatures in the Angeles National Forest returned five months later to thank rescuers and scale the mountain she survived.

"I definitely have butterflies in my stomach," she said.

Tracy Granger was driving from Pasadena over the mountain to Littlerock when she hit an ice patch and tumbled off Angeles Forest Highway on March 24. Her white pickup truck landed 350 feet over the edge.

She was forced to spend a cold night on the mountain wearing only a sweatshirt and thin mittens, while temperatures dropped to 34 degrees.

"Just before going over, I just had the thought that it's going to be alright," she said.

Twelve hours later, a coalition of rescuers found her. On Thursday, the same crew escorted her down the mountainside. She said scaling the mountainside was therapy.

"It's something that I need to do for myself," she said.

It was the first time seeing her rescuers since the accident. She was unconscious when rescued, so the faces were foreign to her, but she needed the opportunity to finally have some closure.

"I need to feel all these thoughts," she said. "I need to let them pass through me and let them go on their way."

Granger said she is still recuperating, but after two more months of therapy, she should be back to normal.

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