just do it in February.
Posted on 08/23/2026 7:15:36 PM PDT by BenLurkin
A 68-year-old tourist from France died after he and a traveling companion became stranded on a remote road in Death Valley National Park, one of the hottest places on Earth during the summer months.
Pierre Michel Formosa and his companion, also from France, were traveling along West Side Road on Monday, Aug. 17, when their vehicle became stuck in mud near Queen of Sheba Mine Road, according to a news release from the National Park Service.
With no other vehicles nearby, the two men left their vehicle and began walking across the salt flats toward Badwater Road in search of help.
Temperatures in Death Valley reached 116 degrees that day, park officials said.
After walking about 1.3 miles, Formosa was unable to continue, authorities said. His companion continued toward Badwater Road, where he eventually encountered a passing motorist who offered assistance.
Formosa’s companion reported the incident at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center shortly after 2 p.m., prompting National Park Service rangers and an Inyo County sheriff’s deputy to launch a search-and-rescue operation around 2:13 p.m.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter later joined the search and located Formosa that afternoon approximately 1.5 miles from Badwater Road.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Inyo County coroner will determine the exact cause and manner of death.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
Actually he was an obvious candidate for the Darwin Award.
Death Valley serious summer environment
I’ve been there still 105 at midnight
It’s 104 furnace creek right now at 0030
Geez only two cruel attempts at being cute whole thread
Amazing
You guys are getting soft
Climbing Mount Washington, another activity not to take lightly.
For my 18th birthday mid summer, my father, my brothers 8 and 10 and myself climbed, spent the night at the Lake of the Clouds Hotel, and set off on a rainy, windy, 40 degree morning. After we left the tree line there were rock piles (cairns) perhaps 100 feet apart to show where the trail was. However, it was very foggy. My father would go a short distance, then had me send my 10 year old brother to him, and father would go further toward where he thought the next cairn was located. I would send my 8 year old brother to join his brother. Then my brother would walk to his father. He would then proceed to where he could really see the cairn. I would then proceed to gather my brothers and join him at that next cairn. We had to do this a number of times to get safely to the shelter on top of the mountain.
When we arrived, it was still very windy, cold and rainy, we found a camp councilor and around 15 young teens in shorts and sweat shirts, dripping and shivering in the enclosed shelter. My thought was, thank goodness my father had the good sense to require us to have 3 layers of clothing, and waterproof rain covering. There was a cog railway down to the bottom and we fortunately had enough money to pay for my brothers to go to the bottom of the mountain and wait near our car. Then father and I hiked down a different trail than we had come up. (The Jewel Trail?)
We bought a booklet about how over a hundred people had died climbing this mountain. Many had died because they lost their way, as we could have in the fog. Then tried to walk down without finding a trail, had a harder and time as they entered the tree line. The brush there would be very thick and harder and harder to push through as it became taller while descending. People would get stuck and exhausted and die. Some would fall of cliffs while lost in fog or worse. Respect the wilderness and know your own skills and limitations.
The word Formosa comes from the Portuguese adjective formosa, meaning "beautiful" or "shapely," which itself derives from the Latin fōrmōsus, meaning "beautiful, well-formed."It's simply amazing what you can find with a 2-second Internet search!
Regards,
know thyself, know thy surroundings everywhere you go.
Sage advice. Nature is beautiful, but it's best to remember that we are very small next to it and it can become dangerous quickly.
They should sue someone. That Death Valley is dangerous —they should put up a sign or something to warn people they could die out there.
Signs do not stop people from doing stupid things. Never did, never will.
Plus, these people were French tourists… Most likely had no clue what they were getting themselves into.
Tourism
I just noted a survival show which said ……..stay where you are. People incorrectly think we can solve every problem. So senior citizens walk in the desert.
“Nature is beautiful, but it’s best to remember that we are very small next to it and it can become dangerous quickly.”
True. My ex, my cat, and I almost died in a flash blizzard around 1970, in the car stuck in a median near Punxsutawney. A trucker came along and took us to safety. God only knows how he could see us. I’m serious; God knows. 🙏🏻
Mud? Why would there be mud in a place that is 116 degrees?
Full tank of gas. Lots of water—probably twice what you “think” you might need. Stay on the regular roads unless you really know where you are going and what you are doing.
I’ve been there a few times. I didn’t always get to see what I wanted because I was not sure of the roads.
They didn’t call it Death Valley because it sounded good in the movies.
Know your surroundings....
Sounds like divine intervention. Your cat was probably thinking ‘What the hell? We have a perfectly warm and nice place to live. Why are we out here in this?’.
116 deg F was common during summers in my town in India. It was dry heat but still scorching hot. No A/C of course. But my parents had full door height curtains made up of some fine roots. We sprayed water on them and the breeze coming through the curtains was cooler and had a nice fragrance from the roots. And the wooden windows were shut for extra shade. No one died from the heat.
Hottest months were may & June. In July the monsoons brought in cooler weather.
I read about a guy who backpacked across Death Valley. He went out a few days before and cached something like 100 gallons of water split up along his trail.
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