Originally Posted By: saltydog
Originally Posted By: 63ChevyII.com
Wow, hopefully he makes it off the mountain ok.

On my last trip (June 3-4) we to two different hikers that had lost the trail between Trail Camp and Outpost Camp. I thought that it was due to the snow, but if this hiker got lost in the same area, it doesn't seem that snow could be to blame anymore.


Late in the day, the pound down the switchers and ledges from the "last foxtail" to Mirror Lake has claimed (and hidden) its victims. That's where I would concentrate this search.


My thoughts and prayers are with him, his family & friends, and the searchers.

As always I agree with Salty.

In 98 an inexperienced friend of the family joined up with a church group on a summit bid. He started late, turned around after 5 PM and then got lost between TC and Mirror Lake in the twilight.

His knees gave out going down the hard rocky bluffs above Mirror Lake. He saw the reflection of the lake gloaming in the twilight making a beeline for it. He didn't remember the sizable cliff of 150-300 feet that separates the MWMT from Mirror Lake. He slipped and slid 80 ft down the incline until he was stopped by a pine sapling on a narrow slanted ledge above the lake.

He spent the night until InyoSAR detected him and they were able to rescue him the next morning.

I think that section of trail is easy to lose. You lose the packed down sand of the lower regions and the compacted scralus of the upper portions. You really have to look ahead to know where you are going.

IMHO I'd focus the search to that region.


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