A message in a bottle helped rescue a family stranded during a camping trip in central California.When Curtis Whitson led his family to a gorge in June, the 44-year-old expected a rope would be there to let them down. But there was no rope.Whitson, his girlfriend and 13-year-old son had no cell phone service and were trapped above a 40-foot waterfall.In that act of desperation and perhaps inspiration, the family made an "S.O.S" sign out of rocks and Whitson scratched out the word 'Help' on his water bottle.On a receipt inside, he wrote: "We are stuck at the waterfall - get help please."That message in a bottle found its way to hikers downstream. They alerted authorities who launched a chopper.The helicopter found the trio sleeping next to the "S.O.S." sign.The family said it hadn't seen a single person during their three-day trip so they were shocked when they saw the California Highway Patrol chopper just hours after tossing the plastic bottle over the waterfall.