Re: Search under way for hiker missing in Joshua Tree NP 7/1
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 1:33 pm
I also think it's odd that there was no "trace" and "no footsteps," but I don't know exactly what that means. As we know, details get blurred in translation when they end up in media reports. Did they see no footprints on the trail? Off the trail? Or did they see footprints but were unable to identify the shoe type?
In Palm Springs it rained an inch on July 11, and there hasn't been anything more than a trace of rain since then. Mr. Miller disappeared on July 13. Here's an article that discussed the rain in that area which was 1.9 inches nearby:
https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/20 ... 786621002/
It would be interesting to do an experiment with a balcony and a watering can to simulate rain and see how much it takes to make old footprints disappear, then coming back at later times to test the visibility of new footprints. Depth of sand would likely affect the results.
The timing does also seem odd to me. More info here:
https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/lo ... 813118002/
But I think the NPS hasty search and rescue must be very hasty. They probably figure they can save lives and not put a bunch of volunteer searchers out in the heat by responding very quickly with rangers and other paid staff. If this has worked very well this summer, we wouldn't know because it wouldn't make much of a news story if people have been found quickly. What is more odd however is that the wife considered him to be missing at 3 hours and that's accounting for the drive time to and from 29 Palms, not just the hike itself.
If this is a missing hiker case and not something fishy or foul, then it's possible that he could have been unconscious by the time the rangers hiked the trail that same day. Otherwise he probably would have called back when they called his name, unless he was very far from the trail or deep inside a rock crevice. Sound travels a long ways in the desert.
In Palm Springs it rained an inch on July 11, and there hasn't been anything more than a trace of rain since then. Mr. Miller disappeared on July 13. Here's an article that discussed the rain in that area which was 1.9 inches nearby:
https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/20 ... 786621002/
It would be interesting to do an experiment with a balcony and a watering can to simulate rain and see how much it takes to make old footprints disappear, then coming back at later times to test the visibility of new footprints. Depth of sand would likely affect the results.
The timing does also seem odd to me. More info here:
https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/lo ... 813118002/
But I think the NPS hasty search and rescue must be very hasty. They probably figure they can save lives and not put a bunch of volunteer searchers out in the heat by responding very quickly with rangers and other paid staff. If this has worked very well this summer, we wouldn't know because it wouldn't make much of a news story if people have been found quickly. What is more odd however is that the wife considered him to be missing at 3 hours and that's accounting for the drive time to and from 29 Palms, not just the hike itself.
If this is a missing hiker case and not something fishy or foul, then it's possible that he could have been unconscious by the time the rangers hiked the trail that same day. Otherwise he probably would have called back when they called his name, unless he was very far from the trail or deep inside a rock crevice. Sound travels a long ways in the desert.