Michigan man rescued from California trail where family died

[sl8]

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/regional/michigan-man-rescued-from-california-trail/103-0ca2af28-fbb4-4b9c-9f4e-8ba01940e404

Michigan man rescued from California trail where family died

The family's mysterious deaths grabbed international headlines.

Author: Associated Press
Published: 7:02 PM PDT July 7, 2022
Updated: 7:02 PM PDT July 7, 2022

MARIPOSA, Calif. — A tourist from Michigan who tried to retrace the steps of a family who died during a grueling summer hike in Northern California had to be rescued last week after getting lost, a frustrated sheriff said.

The man, who has not been identified, was reported missing near the trail in Mariposa County where officials last year found the bodies of Jonathan Gerrish, his wife, Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter Aurelia “Miju” Chung-Gerrish and their dog Oski, Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said in a statement posted on social media.

[...]

On June 29, a hiker called authorities after noticing the man’s car was still parked at the trailhead. The caller had met the tourist from Michigan a day earlier when he told him he was investigating the family’s deaths because he found the cause of death “odd,” Briese said.

[...]

“It is hard not to be angry about this particular rescue mission, I want people to come here and enjoy all the amazing nature Mariposa County has to offer,” Briese said.

“To have someone purposely put themselves in danger, using vital resources and potentially putting the safety of our staff in danger all to try and prove us wrong is maddening and quite frankly sickening,” he added.

[usonian]

1. Baffling, but let me make one suggestion that might help future hikers.

Cellphone coverage is nonexistent to useless in many parts of the county.

I am on a ridge, and I have clear view to giant microwave towers (apparently not cellphone antennas) to the east and west. I have photos of them. And one bar on the cell phone. A usable cell signal could have saved the lives of the family that died on that trail.

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/family-died-in-california-mountains-made-desperate-plea/103-3f8f18be-a443-4bca-842b-2e3f8e7209d7

But profits count more than lives.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. Hikers are all too often seriously ignorant, and have made no attempt

to find out conditions where they will be hiking.

A couple of weeks ago a Texas couple was taken completely by surprise that it could possibly be colder in the Mountains of Colorado than in Texas.

“These hikers were highly unprepared,” AVSAR said. “They had no extra clothing and no way to stay dry in their tent, with no rain fly. These hikers said they did not understand why it was so cold and rainy in Colorado, because it has been ‘so hot in Texas’ where they hike all the time.”

Link to the full article in the Denver Post: https://www.denverpost.com/2022/06/28/texas-hikers-rescued-lake-como-sangre-de-cristo/