Posted on 02/22/2016 4:56:27 PM PST by nickcarraway
The third hiker in a month has died after hiking Mt. Baldy trails Saturday, the coroner's office confirmed.
A 45-year-old San Diego man was killed after slipping while on the Devil's Backbone trail.
He fell 1,000 feet down the mountainside, the San Bernardino County Coroner's office said.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said a 911 call came in from a fellow hiker who saw the fall.
The sheriff's department launched a helicopter to search for the man, and transported him to Arrowhead Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead. The coroner's office would release his name once his next of kin was notified.
Mt. Baldy is located in the San Gabriel Mountains in San Bernardino County.
The trails were closed Feb. 8 after two hikers died within a week. The trails were later reopened.
"When you get on the backside of those mountains, those trails are only about a foot and a half wide," Mike Ells of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said. "They take one bad step, there's nothing to stop them." Published at 5:42 PM PST on
Actually if he fell the whole way before impact, his death was painless.
He was going so fast that he was dead before the pain signals could reach the brain -
The scary part was the terrifying fall.......
We were to hike up to the Fire Tower..and then go SW down the PCT..to a pre-picked out pick up point...
Low and behold...we go to the fire tower...and the wrap around trail from there...was snow and ice covered. I optioned to spend the night right there..and the wind blew like crazy...but me and dogs were fine.
Went back down the way we came....Was fun...but not what I expected to do...........
18” wide trails adjacent to a steep drop?
Lordy.
.
Yet even without an education, the DinDus are really good at business (drug) math.
sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread.
Terminal velocity, on several levels.
Where winter hiker accident occurred on Mt Baldy Devils Backbone.
Go to minute 01:30 of this 6 min video.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ljVrw11Kykk
Too many unprepared fools attempt the climb to them 10,000 foot summit. I’ve seen an 80 year grandfather ascend it on his birthday, in the Summer...
BTW, despite National Monument designation, the NFS doesn’t bother with any signs to caution hikers about the trail ahead and numerous deaths on Baldy’s ski hut trail and devils backbone.
When I asked why not post signs & clearly mark trails, the Ranger stated that “its NFS policy to keep signage at a minimum in order to preserve the natural state.”.
Actual quote.
So IMHO NFS in SoCal is grossly negligent as well.
Other forest service regions across the country post useful signs as a caution, and bother to mark trails / maintain them.
SoCal, no so much.
Beautiful
Yeah, here in the High Sierra we run into lots city folks wanting to hike in shorts and sandals, in late Spring, when it is still mid-Winter at over 10,000 feet up in mountains. They have no clue.
The only exercise I take is walking behind the coffins of my friends who took exercise.
-Peter O’Toole.
Don’t bitch at them for endangering rescue crews, don’t rescue them.
Sorry, the page you are looking for does not exist.
Please provide a link which goes to the article and then hit abuse so that we can replace the bad link. Thanks.
Did you get your squirrel ticket? It is a really nice hike, without the ice.
Was running from a mountain lion?
Texting?
Taking the ultimate self-absorbed selfie, tried to step backwards?
Hiked down Kaibob Grand Canyon Trail, and back up Bright Angel. 5000 foot+ drop from the top.
Dimdumbs?
I wonder whether any of these casualties were texting while hiking?
Can you get reception up there?
I don’t know. By comparison, while on vacation once at Crater Lake, Oregon, my son managed to lock *THREE* (3) sets of keys in the car simultaneously, and we could not get cell reception to call a tow truck.
My wife had to hitch a ride to the ranger station 12 miles away by road, call the tow truck, wait for them to arrive from town 30 miles away, and ride back up to the top where we were...
Done.
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