Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation

Cy Kaicener · Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 2:02 pm Post subject: Heat Stroke on Skyline 5/17/09

A hiker called Alex age 28 from Ohio died on Skyline yesterday.
My friend Rob phoned me today to tell me the sad news and that he knew Alex who was with his girl friend or fiancee.
They reached somewhere before Flat Rock and then made the mistake of hiking back down. They reached the picnic tables at 1300 feet where he died. His friend made it back to the parking lot.
I can not find any report on the internet. If anyone has heard anything please post it here. I hope Rob can tell us more.
_________________
My favorite trail is the Skyline/Cactus to clouds trail which I like to do on many Saturdays. Please visit my website at www.hiking4health.com for more information especially the Links.

Hikin_Jim · Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 1231 Location: Los Angeles

Oh, is that ever not good to hear. Crying or Very sad

How is the gf/fiance doing? That's gotta be just awful. May God be with her.
_________________
King of the road? No, more like middle of the road. Smile

halhiker · Joined: 16 Oct 2006 Posts: 612 Location: La Quinta, CA

This is a tragedy. Being a desert person I sometimes take the heat too lately but this is a terrible reminder of the danger involved in doing so.
_________________
Hal
http://hikeeveryday.blogspot.com

bluerail · Joined: 11 Dec 2008 Posts: 591 Location: La Quinta

I've also in the past forgotten how deadly serious the heat is. I hope everyone is paying attention.

this is tragic. I'm very sorry for everyones loss.

Marknhj · Joined: 07 Feb 2008 Posts: 141 Location: Palm Springs

What horribly sad news.

However, I hope that it'll be a reminder to everyone who does Skyline, or who is thinking about doing Skyline, that the heat here should never be underestimated and one should always err on the side of caution. If in doubt, don't...

KathyW · Joined: 27 Dec 2006 Posts: 740

Very sad. It was 105 today when I was working in Mecca - that's pretty deadly to hike in for most people. Only the rare hiker is conditioned for temperatures near or over 100 degrees. I wasn't hiking today (I stayed in my truck most of the day with the air conditioning running), but I was still exhausted when I came home.

Just a thought, but maybe it would be better to advertise some of the other beautiful but cooler trails in the San Jacintos this time of year instead of the Skyline Trail.

bluerail · Joined: 11 Dec 2008 Posts: 591 Location: La Quinta

Has anyone found more info on this yet ?

Ellen · Joined: 29 Mar 2007 Posts: 569 Location: Riverside, CA

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Ellen

Perry · Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 11:44 am Post subject:

Based on past articles in newspapers about wilderness incidents, there could be mistakes in what is reported. Rob is the most reliable source on this. He was friends with Alex, and he is careful about details. Right now he's still dealing with this emotionally and waiting to hear more information.

In the summer it's safer to continue to the tram instead of turning around at flatrock (6,000 feet). Even safer is turning around while still in the low desert. I did this once in July. It was warm and I just didn't feel good. Turned around at about 3,000 feet.

NormaR · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 124 Location: Ventura County, CA

so sad. condolences to his family and friends.

i did a local hike on Saturday near me and drank over 2 liters of water in 4 hours. without that water the heat would have been intolerable.

kd · Joined: 12 Aug 2008 Posts: 68 Location: Hemet CA

Thought and prayers to his loved ones.

Perry,
Did you create this site
http://www.geocities.com/cactus2clouds/skyline.html ?

Reading those pages created a powerful respect for me, before I made my first trip.

---- Kevin

neverwashasbeen · Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 53 Location: Palm Springs

I checked with the fire department, it's true. When paramedics reached him he was unconscious and went into full arrest at the bottom of the trail. Details given matched Cy's original post very closely.

Perry · Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 5:52 pm Post subject:

Yeah, that was a page I put up before this forum existed. Glad to hear it has made a difference. It used to not have the quiz and have easy access to info, but then I thought it could potentially cause problems if some people skipped all the warnings and just looked up where the trailheads are. I placed code in the full info page that tells search engines to not include it in results.

Cy Kaicener · Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 6:08 pm Post subject: Heat Stroke on Skyline 5/17/09

Robie called again and said that he would give us more details when he finds out about them. It seems that they turned back before reaching Flat Rock, maybe closer to half way. I think he mentioned a 5.00 am start.
Condolences to the family of Alexander Todd Major
_________________
My favorite trail is the Skyline/Cactus to clouds trail which I like to do on many Saturdays. Please visit my website at www.hiking4health.com for more information especially the Links.

WOLFDOG · Joined: 08 Mar 2008 Posts: 25 Location: La Quinta

So upsetting to here. Everytime I hear something like this, it reminds me of the time when I heard of the boy scout that died up near Marion Mountain Campground in 1978 when the troop attempted to backpack up to Deer Springs in early November and caught in the worst blizzard. My deepest condolences.
_________________
Jon Braginton