A father and his toddler son were out for a walk near Fort Funston on Saturday morning when — drawn by the shimmering water below — they decided to hike down a cliff.
But halfway down, they realized they were stuck.
Firefighters arrived at 11:30 a.m. and spent the next hour maneuvering a three-rope rescue, according to Lt. Jonathan Baxter of the San Francisco Fire Department.
“We want to congratulate and commend [the father],” Baxter said of the man, who knew exactly where they had gone astray. “He called 911 and knew exactly where he was at and was able to give us specific directions.”
As rescuers hauled the pair uphill, a National Park Service rescue team waited in the water below and a Highway Patrol helicopter hovered in the sky — contingency plans if the rope rescue failed.
“This could have had a much worse ending,” Baxter said, “resulting in an injury or death.”
Instead, he said, the pair got lucky — and can get back to a perfectly nice day.
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