Young Hikers Missing in Joshua Tree Since Thursday [7/27/17]

[Wildhorse]

Cynthia, what a wonderful story of Death Valley.

I cannot help but remember that before Americans saw wilderness (and wildness) as something vital to our lives, instead of a dangerous place, we destroyed much of American wilderness for the sake of our imagined well-being in the face of danger. We humans are still the major threat to wilderness because of that old belief endures.

If it is the land who took these two hikers, it is okay even while it causes grief. We never stop being part of the land.

[zippetydude]

Wow, Cynthia, that was quite an adventure. You didn't think to immortalize the moment with a picture or two did you? That would be awesome! I actually like the spirit of curiosity that you showed in stopping your car and getting out to explore simply because something looked interesting. I do that all the time. It doesn't always turn out to be easy, as your experience shows (do you remember my various attempts to get to Onion Rock?) but it almost always turns out to be something new and different.

z

[cynthia23]

Thank you for your approbation Zip! Coming from you that means a lot No, no photos sadly--I did write a short story afterwards, though, based upon that day of low drama and high laundry.

Seriously, though--the spirit of curiosity and exploration is so important that it's worth taking risks. Where would humanity be if nobody in the tribe had ever explored beyond the local hills? Even as we mourn those who don't survive those explorations, we have to always cherish that spirit.

[cynthia23]

http://www.kmir.com/story/36134944/sear ... ing-hikers

Something I saw that was fairly recent, with a mention of the footprints. More oddities?

[Myth]

If reported accurately, that bit about the footprints could be interesting. Good footprints found down in the canyon, but not leading to it, or coming back out? I often leave tracks like that. I'm obviously biased because of my personal way of traveling, but that sounds like cross-country travel to me. Which makes me a little more likely to believe that this is a cross-country scramble gone wrong - the crevice in a rock pile theory.

The missing couple appear to be young, in good shape. I'm not exactly young anymore, and not in any particular good shape, but I can roll out ten miles of cross-country scramble, down washes and through rock piles, in a day and have daylight left at the end of it. It may be that this couple was decently well prepared, and got further into the wilderness than thought, and are outside the search area. The thing that does not make sense is that there's not much room to go outside the search area from this trailhead. It is too close to the edge of the Park.

[zippetydude]

I'm not sure that the footprints being only in a certain location would offer any clues. After all, the random visitors the same day and all the SAR members arriving later had to walk the same pathways to get there so the footprints being obscured on the way is probably no surprise. As a side note, when the reporter says:

"It's unusual because there's good tracks down in the canyon, but none going to it or back from it," said Brian Rennie, a volunteer with JOSAR Search and Rescue.

I believe "JOSAR" stands for "JOshua(tree) Search And Rescue". If so, the writer is stating this:

"It's unusual because there's good tracks down in the canyon, but none going to it or back from it," said Brian Rennie, a volunteer with Joshua Tree Search and Rescue Search and Rescue."

Sort of like asking for the VIN number (Vehicle Identification Number Number") of a car. Not a crime, and maybe I'm old fashioned, but I'm just sayin' good reporting might want to include good grammar.

Aside from that silliness, I'm glad they are still searching. When the weather gets cooler I just might find myself out looking for clues on a cool autumn morning. I appreciate all those who get up off their comfortable couches and get out into the wilderness to help the families work towards closure and full understanding.

z

[Myth]

Clues as to location? Almost certainly not. Clues as to general plan and mode of travel? Maybe. Perhaps. Something unexpected happened. Following a trail is expected, going off-trail a bit less so ( but also possibly easier to track due to less foot traffic. If you could find some footprints to track. )

[Perry]

According to this article, they searched in Smith Water Canyon because that's near where the ping was:
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/loc ... 591807001/
I haven't been following all the details as closely as some of the others here. Is this significant new information?

[Wildhorse]

We first thought that they drove into JT early in the morning, parked at and hike the maze area, got lost or fell and that was the story. The fruitless search and the seemingly odd ping location suggest the story is not what we thought, but what to make of it now is a mystery.

[cynthia23]

Thank you for posting this new article, Perry. It was in today's Desert Sun. The reportage in the DS on this incident has been pretty garbled and this new article is no exception. If true, this quite a change in direction, literally. I really, really hope/need OtherHand to weigh in on this, especially regarding the ping. This seems to me a very strange thing.