"A day hike that almost ended in death"

I was just reading this article about two local hikers who got lost on a day hike on Mt. Baldy. Everything started out so innocently, as these things always do.

There's this one scene that the reporter describes that sent a chill down my spine. It was pitch dark that night. One of them had a headlamp but when she turned it on, the batteries immediately died. So they kept hiking in the darkness and to keep from walking off a cliff, they would toss pebbles in front of them as they walked. At one point, they toss a pebble in front and there's no sound. So they turn around and head back but suddenly tossing a pebble in that direction also results in silence. Uh oh...

Fortunately, they're both fine. There are a series of points in their ordeal where they might have done something differently, such as being off-trail when they first spot fog, when the guy injures himself, when they realize their only light source is useless at night, etc. As an educational exercise, putting yourself in these same decision points, with exactly the same gear (or lack of), would you have done things differently and if so, what would you have done at those decision points?

I would've stopped hiking with enough daylight left to build a fire and/or shelter. Moving around in the dark on the edge of a canyon is unwise. At least he acted a bit more intelligent on the second day.

It's articles like this that affirm my preparedness skills and my EDC. Could I still get into trouble? Absolutely. Do I take every pre-caution that I should? No. But I never take nature or my skills for granted.

No kidding- I'd rather risk exposure than finding the rim. If I was that badly blacked out, I'd just sit down and wait for dawn. You can do a lot about being cold- you can't do much about gravity.

1) not leave at such a late hour.
2) stay on a clear trail.
3) heed my sixth sense and hunker down when the fog hit.
4) when it gets dark, not moving around without any kind of light.

If I remember properly (and it's been a while since I did Baldy), the last 1/2 mile or so is almost a "spine" as you hike - very narrow, and rather steep. Narrow, as in a few feet across, with steep sides. Think of walking along a knife edge, where the cutting portion is about 4-6 feet wide.

Then again, it could be one of other summits in that range - I haven't been to Baldy in about 15 years.

Anyway, yeah, I can see them getting onto a ledge what's surrounded by very steep drop offs.

You'd think they'd have enough light bouncing out from metro L.A.

You're right, it gets narrow and steep. That's whats tricky about the Baldy area. Fun, easily accessible hike but easy to get into trouble if you're not careful. And especially this time of year the weather can change in minutes. Sounds like they got too comfortable.

It seemed to me they forgot to apply STOP (stop, think, observe, plan). It could have ended very badly.

I've read many such "day hike gone wrong" stories here and in other places to have decided that there is no such thing as a "day hike." There are only over night hikes that don't last that long.

I think most of us would agree that on a casual "day hike" you still need to be prepared to spend at least one night in cold and wet conditions, maybe more. Three days?

LOL Yeah, my GF thinks I'm nuts when we go on a 5 mile hike and I'm carrying a 15# bag. Granted, the bag itself is probably 3# of that, and I'm carrying her water too.

I carry, routinely, 2 qt water, 10 essentials, 1 MRE, a few power bars, FAK, PSK, and usually a HeatSheet Bivy on day hikes. Add in usually some sort of insulating shirt or jacket. That's for "good" weather hikes. If it's winter, I'll add an Esbit stove, and usually a second space blanket. Of course, that's in addition to whatever clothes I feel appropriate for the day. I might add a pair of wool glove liners and an extra pair of socks depending on the terrain.

So, yes, I think it's safe to say your idea of "overnight hikes that don't last long" is right on!

More and more "day" hikers are needing rescue. Maybe time for some classes and a sign at the trail head about prep. dangers and equipment.


The interesting thing here how any number of small things would have helped them -- stick to the trail, turn-around sooner, gps, 2x aa batteries....

Another 'experienced' hiker. I guess if you can put one foot in front of another without falling over, you're an experienced hiker.

No appropriate clothing with rain forecast. Apparently no firemaking gear. Not enough sense to stop before dark. No enough sense to stop after it was dark.

Dumb as a couple of stumps.

Cynical Sue

I'm not quite as cynical as Sue but after reading that story, wow. Calling them stumps is an insult to stumps.

I'm sure that some of you have heard about how experience is counted, to some people having a years experience and simply repeating it allows them to claim "20 years of experience in X,Y, or Z..." in this case it sounds more like about one days worth of "experience" repeated over the course of 20 years.

How does an "experienced" hiker go to a hike without a light? Without a compass? Without apparently any freakin common sense?

The saddest part is that if these two brainiacs had died, I have no doubt that their obits would read something like this, " Mountain claims the lives of 2 experienced hikers..."

Unfreakinbelievable...the only bright side, it keeps the local SAR teams up on their training and provides job security for EMT's like me.

John E.

somewhere along the line we seem to have given up on self-reliabilty in favor of relying on others to save us from ourselves.

hopefully that's his wake-up call to start doing the things he should have been doing all along.

i wouldn't say he's experienced - i'd say he's been lucky.

Well, now they have the experience to say that they are experienced hikers. So far, as someone pointed out they have been lucky.

Until you have felt the sick feeling in your gut that now you are in trouble, you cannot claim to be experienced.

Another article here. Not much new information, unless you read through the comments section where one of the lost hikers in the article gives a bit more detail

Not sure what to think of this one. I have been hiking on that trailhead, but not the exact trail they were on though. Even starting at 9, their route to Sugarloaf peak is about 4 miles give or take, and the Peak is probably less than a mile from the road (straight line). And the while the weather changes fast,I don't understand the part about throwing stones in order to make your way down. Visibility would have to be absolutely zero to do something like that.

However, I did know a SAR friend who used to work that area, and out of all the areas in those mountiains, he specifically mentioned Ice House canyon was one of most common areas for rescue. Not the main Baldy trail that most people use. I think it's probably a combination of easy access for everyone and what looks like a easy dayhike, but with rapidly changing weather and extremely difficult terrain. If you stay on the trails it's not bad, but once you leave the trail and start going cross country you could be some serious trouble. I know I've tried it once, and it's not something I plan on repeating.

Were they experienced and just unlucky this one time? Or maybe they're inexperienced and just been lucky every other time? It's hard to say, because even the most experienced hiker runs out of luck at some point. After reading this article, it gave me the motivation to finally go out and buy the AMK HeatSheet Bivy. Really i just use this as an excuse, I was gonna buy it anyway.