Story of missing hiker in Joshua Tree NP

[OtherHand]

"The Devil's Highway" is an exceptionally good read to really understand what happens to someone dying from dehydration and their thought processes. It's extremely detailed and pretty graphic. I'd rate dehydration as one of the nastier ways to die.

[jdclifford]

I'm definitely enjoying it so far. I'm even thinking about going to check out that area of Arizona sometime soon. If anybody has any other suggestions on books where you can learn about lost person behavior (land-based), I'm all ears. I do have Koester's Lost Person Behavior and Syrotuck's Analysis of Lost Person Behavior.

[OtherHand]

Consider "Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why" by Laurence Gonzales. Parts are a little tedious, but the author gives many examples of how people get lost and their thinking as they do so. For example, how people make the transition from knowing where they are (and how to backtrack to safety) and pushing forward into the unknown and not keeping track of how to get back to the spot where they transitioned. Also, how dire situations aren't usually the result of one big mistake, but rather a cascade of smaller, more innocuous bad decisions. The book has made me more aware of when I do something dumb, and alarm bells go off when I've made a couple bad decisions in a row. At that point I stand down and think about things carefully.

[jdclifford]

Thank you, Tom! I just put in an order for that one...excited to read it.

[bretpct]

Just found Deep Survival is included on Audible for us audiobook folks.

[bretpct]

I was able to get a quick hike in this week. It was a bit spontaneous so it was just a short hike up a drainage via SWC that I do not see any recorded tracks for.

Here's the hike in light blue.


Once I got to the top of this hill, I was surprised how separate it seemed from the surrounding hills, like it's own island. I wouldn't have thought that base on the topo alone. Seems very likely Bill would have gone around this area.

I didn't take any pictures during the hike, but after the hike I went up to Eureka Peak to catch the end of the sunset, and saw this awesome blood-red line on the horizon. Never seen that color so vibrant before.


Tracks are stored here: https://caltopo.com/m/LL01
Mylar balloons collected: 0(!)

[mattytreks]

After nearly 12 years, it looks like he may have been found. My goodness…

Human remains found at Joshua Tree reportedly belong to man missing since 2010
https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks ... -Spotlight

[Rumpled]

Wow, that is amazing.
Not that it really matters as a poor guy has died, but I am curious to how close any of all of these searchers got to his ultimate resting spot.
I don't know these areas at all, but have been reading this thread for a few years.