Hiker dies on Museum Trail, Palm Springs 5/11/13

[halhiker]

http://www.mydesert.com/article/2013051 ... 12720548=1

[Cy Kaicener]

His name was Mark Alexander

http://www.kesq.com/news/San-Pedro-Hike ... index.html

[Screerider]

It's easy to come down the wrong way and end up on a much steeper and rougher trail. . Too many people are cutting the switchbacks. Saves time going up. Well...it costs lives coming down. Three hundred yards up? I can guess the way he tried to come down. It's a major cut and an easy mistake when you're hot and tired. If people are not going to stop cutting the trail, then we need to contend with ugly signs to keep the tourists safe. Our laziness just cost somebody their life. too bad.

[Florian]

It's easy to come down the wrong way and end up on a much steeper and rougher trail. . Too many people are cutting the switchbacks. Saves time going up. Well...it costs lives coming down.

I hate all the shortcuts and i hadn't even thought of this point. I'm almost embarrassed to go up the Skyline now when i see all the destruction my "fellow" hikers have done.

-Florian

[drndr]

Always sad to hear something like this. I hate the cut switchbacks as well but would harldly blame them on this hiker's misfortune.

[Screerider]

There are many factors.
First...It's the usual story of one member of a group turning back alone and unprepared.

300 yards up the trail, there is a major cut in the trail. Difficult and steep for the novice. Easy to mistake for the main trail coming down.
I don't know that this was the spot, but I know I've came down it a few times by mistake.
Most of you just go up. As long as you're going uphill, it's fine. Going downhill is much different. It's easier to get disorientated, especially when you're already in trouble. This is not the first time.
The trail needs to be established.

[Ed]

I hate all the shortcuts...

Very sad about the dead hiker. I hate the shortcuts as well. I'm amazed at the amount of time I still spend in the dark trying to figure out which is the shortcut, which is the trail, and which is an offshoot leading in a few yards to a deadend. No problem, I'm sure, for people who can scamper up anywhere to the picnic tables, but that is not me any longer, and I hate wasting time at the beginning of a long hike. And when it is not dark, the various paths are sadly ugly.

[DaddyLongLegs]

I think that jumping to conclusions and finger-pointing is often counter-productive and harmful to innocent persons. I would recommend waiting for the coroner's report and perhaps other reports to get a clearer picture of what actually happened. Then a mature and possibly fruitful conversation can occur.

In the meantime, the family and friends of Mark Alexander have my sincere condolences.

[cynthia23]

It isn't jumping to conclusions to say that the trail has been savaged by the shortcutters; that's just factual. It's in awful shape and the erosion and overly steep shortcuts definitely makes it more dangerous to descend. I often come down from 4 or 5k on Skyline and I never go down the DM on those days because the erosion makes it way too dangerous if you're tired. The big shortcut mentioned above is hazardous to descend under any circumstances. If Mr. Alexander tried to go down that while dizzy, injury or death would likely result. If stating that offends "innocent" shortcutters who are so obsessed with their almighty PRs they destroy wilderness and make the trail more dangerous, too bad. Whether their relentless self-centeredness contributed to this hiker's death, who knows--it didn't help. In any event, I don't see how the shortcutters are 'harmed' by us discussing the possibility their behavior was a factor in this death.

But probably the most significant cause was the time and temperature--Saturday at 1.15 it was extremely hot, in the high nineties--way too late for a hike on the Desert Museum. I'm going to guess he got heat stress, not 'tired' (what the paper says) and on the way down became dizzy and passed out. The article in Monday's Desert Sun claims he fell forty or fifty feet, which suggests an already unconscious man. If he'd been hiking on a flat trail he'd just have landed on his face; on the eroded and treacherous Desert Museum, fainting has severe consequences. Another example of how dangerous summer hiking on Skyline is ...

[zippetydude]

My goodness, what a tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out for him and his family.

Incidentally, we might not want to add needless controversy to unwanted loss. I'm not sure that we should immediately jump to the conclusion that "the shortcuts killed him!" Those myriad trails have been there since before I ever did Skyline, which was maybe 8 or 10 years ago. Do you remember the lower trail back then Cynthia? The bottom was just as criss-crossed back then as it is now. I know because I used to get lost all the time...

In truth, it's my guess that tons of tourists and locals get out and explore up there just above the museum, wandering around and back and forth, ending up with lots of trails that lead nowhere.

The through hikers don't wander around, they take the same path almost every time, and even if they take a given shortcut, it would be the same one again and again. Now the new shortcuts around 4000' elevation would have to be attributed to either advanced or through hikers, so that's a fair suggestion, but the lower ones, at least in my estimation, simply come from locals and innocent tourists wandering around exploring the edge of the wilderness.

I do agree that the heat was definitely a factor. Sadly, this poor soul had very bad luck even though he had been cautious in his decision making, electing to turn around early, just as most of us would advise. The reports don't say if it was the heat, the fall, or some combination, but in any case, I agree with Sam that making a sudden leap from a tragic death to "must have been caused by shortcuts" is rather an a priori assumption.

I might just as well post, "must have been caused by a rattler". After all, even if there is no bite, what else would make a person suddenly lose their balance in a dangerous place? Rattlers! Suddenly hearing a rattle and seeing a rattler way too close to your ankle, or hand, or face...that must have been it!

I'm not really blaming rattlers, I have no credible evidence that a rattler directly caused this incident. Neither am I blaming shortcuts, since I have no evidence of that either. Incidentally, I don't even know of any shortcuts that run right along a 50' drop...nor any place on the main trail either. I'm afraid of heights, so I should have noticed that...

In any case, peace, my trail kin. And keep yourselves safe and cool above the dangerous temps on the desert floor. Skyline will be there in October.

z