By Patric Hedlund with reporting by Rob Eubank

A middle-aged Hmong woman, still tough from memories of escaping Vietnam with her family through forests in Thailand when she was a young woman, climbed down the steep mountain slopes of Mill Canyon on Mount Piños last Monday, June 6. She stopped to speak to the mountain bushes and grasses along the way, blessing them, thanking them, whispering prayers.

With her on this pilgrimage were her daughter, her son’s fiancée and Rob Eubank of Cuddy Valley.

May Her believes the Mountain Lilac that spreads lushly down the canyon slope cushioned the impact of the fall when her son’s car missed a curve on Mt. Piños Road the night of…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

Above: This is a frame of a video shot from above as a Ventura County rescue helicopter hovered in the canyon at Left to rescue Shong Her. He is believed to have waited 14 hours for help, after sailing off Mt. Piños Road to crash about 1,000 feet away.

This is the front of the 2015 Honda Civic as it was found, lodged against a tree at the bottom of the canyon. Shong Her was able to crawl out and sat 15 feet away, waiting for help.

Rob Eubank, Susan Xiong, Patau Her and Mae Her at the site

Top: Rob Eubank of Cuddy Valley, a minister contacted the family after he found Shong’s wallet, cell phone and other items in the debris field that he followed down the mountain. Middle: The couple at a Hmong New Year celebration; Above: They were to be wed this Friday, June 10.

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This is part of the June 10, 2016 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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