What happened to this California family?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is who the hell brings a baby along for this nightmare hike from hell? Their judgment seems so off as to be indicative of a plan. That’s a long time without a proper nap, cooling off, etc.

I bet they planned to be home by nap, 11:30 or noon. I planned everything around nap when I had baby in a carrier.

Babies that young are usually on a 2 nap schedule.

I did lots of Hikes with my babies but they were an hour or so, 2 at the most. Not 8.5 miles in triple digits….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is who the hell brings a baby along for this nightmare hike from hell? Their judgment seems so off as to be indicative of a plan. That’s a long time without a proper nap, cooling off, etc.

I bet they planned to be home by nap, 11:30 or noon. I planned everything around nap when I had baby in a carrier.

Babies that young are usually on a 2 nap schedule.

I did lots of Hikes with my babies but they were an hour or so, 2 at the most. Not 8.5 miles in triple digits….

I agree this seems to be a crazy thing to do with a baby, although indicative of their general hobbies, but my kids all switched to 1 nap at 1 year old and it would be easy to have the baby do their first nap in the carrier if they were still on a two schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another update from websleuths:

“Investigators believe the family hiked most of a grueling 8.5-mile loop — including 5 miles of steep southern exposure trail with little to no trees or shade in 103 to 109 degree heat — before succumbing on the return to their truck on a steep switchback.” Investigators have ruled out 2 causes of death in case of Mariposa family, but still have no answers

I’m fat and indoorsy-how long does it take athletic, experienced hikers to do a difficult 8 mile hike? It does seem awfully crazy to attempt that with a baby. I’m guessing at least 3 hours or so? Do babies actually want to chill out in a hiking backpack for that long?

I can manage 3.5 miles in one hour on flat terrain. I can maintain that for hours. Yes, it's slow.

The problem with their hike is that down is always easy. Up is hard. You don't save much energy doing down hill. Not enough to make up the extra effort for the return climb.

The more I read 8 mile hike, steep, uphill, brought thick furry fog, over 100 degrees, I think the couple were not sharp, not experienced. Plus, I scope out hikes. That couple simply googled it, then went next 105 degree day with a baby and dog?? Heat stroke more and more I am thinking. And wife tried to get back to get help but couldnt.

[Anonymous]

[code]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another update from websleuths:

“Investigators believe the family hiked most of a grueling 8.5-mile loop — including 5 miles of steep southern exposure trail with little to no trees or shade in 103 to 109 degree heat — before succumbing on the return to their truck on a steep switchback.” Investigators have ruled out 2 causes of death in case of Mariposa family, but still have no answers

Wow. Maybe instead of being experienced hikers, they were just learning hiking and unfortunately stupid. Bringing the dog and baby was stupid. Still sad of course, especially for the baby and dog because they had no choice.

If there is one known incontrovertible fact about these people I think it is that they were experienced hikers and outdoorsmen, and had spent a lot of time in very hot dry conditions previously

None of this matters. It's sounding more and more like heat stroke. Someone linked an article upthread about a very experienced runner who just died running a course on a hot day in California. He expected it to take him an hour and his fitbit thing showed he took off fast then faltered and began to wander around aimlessly. He sat down under a tree and died. When people are experiencing heat stroke they often don't realize how bad off they are. He hadn't run this trail before and they day was hot and the trail had little shade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they had heat stroke, why was there water left in their camel pack?

We don't know how much they had and if they were conserving it. Read what happens to a person's mental state when heat stroke takes over.

[Anonymous]

The temperature was not hot. It was beyond hot. The trail they were on was difficult. They were not prepared for what they were attempting.

The baby and dog should never have been there.

From their social media it appears they were very outdoorsy and we assume they were knowledgeable about the risks. Maybe they weren't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Knowing the dog was an Akita Aussie mix, I’m not buying the heat stroke. It would take a while for a dog like that to die of heat stroke or dehydration and it would be both strong enough and smart enough to pull itself free from a leash, especially if the dad just sat down exhausted, in which was he was probably just holding the leash. Most dog owners won’t tie up their dog unless they are going into a store and don’t want to dog to follow. No way he sits down, overcome by heat, and decides to tie up the dog securely.
Does anyone know if the dog was tied, or just lying down next to the dad dead?

Once again this is a dog with a lot of fur and not built for heat. The dog and baby were probably suffering from heat stroke before the parents. There was no shade. They had been in temps over 105 for some time. Go read about other cases like this.

[Anonymous]

If you don't believe they all could have died of heat stroke, I recommend the book "Over The Edge: Death in Grand Canyon". People rarely die of murder or from animal attacks. Guess what kills most of the people there? It can be amazing how quickly they perish from the heat. One of the saddest stories was about a pack of boy scouts who had adult leaders who were idiots. Even people who train and have adequate water perish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is who the hell brings a baby along for this nightmare hike from hell? Their judgment seems so off as to be indicative of a plan. That’s a long time without a proper nap, cooling off, etc.

It’s not uncommon for people to underestimate how long a hike will take, especially when it involves elevation changes.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another update from websleuths:

“Investigators believe the family hiked most of a grueling 8.5-mile loop — including 5 miles of steep southern exposure trail with little to no trees or shade in 103 to 109 degree heat — before succumbing on the return to their truck on a steep switchback.” Investigators have ruled out 2 causes of death in case of Mariposa family, but still have no answers

I’m fat and indoorsy-how long does it take athletic, experienced hikers to do a difficult 8 mile hike? It does seem awfully crazy to attempt that with a baby. I’m guessing at least 3 hours or so? Do babies actually want to chill out in a hiking backpack for that long?

I can manage 3.5 miles in one hour on flat terrain. I can maintain that for hours. Yes, it's slow.

The problem with their hike is that down is always easy. Up is hard. You don't save much energy doing down hill. Not enough to make up the extra effort for the return climb.

The more I read 8 mile hike, steep, uphill, brought thick furry fog, over 100 degrees, I think the couple were not sharp, not experienced. Plus, I scope out hikes. That couple simply googled it, then went next 105 degree day with a baby and dog?? Heat stroke more and more I am thinking. And wife tried to get back to get help but couldnt.

These were experienced hikers and adventurers. A news article mentioned the wife’s IG account. I looked at it. They had journeyed through the Gobi Dessert, hiked across glaciers in Iceland.. the husband has several online posts about recent hikes in California.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another update from websleuths:

“Investigators believe the family hiked most of a grueling 8.5-mile loop — including 5 miles of steep southern exposure trail with little to no trees or shade in 103 to 109 degree heat — before succumbing on the return to their truck on a steep switchback.” Investigators have ruled out 2 causes of death in case of Mariposa family, but still have no answers

I’m fat and indoorsy-how long does it take athletic, experienced hikers to do a difficult 8 mile hike? It does seem awfully crazy to attempt that with a baby. I’m guessing at least 3 hours or so? Do babies actually want to chill out in a hiking backpack for that long?

I can manage 3.5 miles in one hour on flat terrain. I can maintain that for hours. Yes, it's slow.

The problem with their hike is that down is always easy. Up is hard. You don't save much energy doing down hill. Not enough to make up the extra effort for the return climb.

It doesn't matter. It does not mean they were prepared for what they encountered that day.

The more I read 8 mile hike, steep, uphill, brought thick furry fog, over 100 degrees, I think the couple were not sharp, not experienced. Plus, I scope out hikes. That couple simply googled it, then went next 105 degree day with a baby and dog?? Heat stroke more and more I am thinking. And wife tried to get back to get help but couldnt.

These were experienced hikers and adventurers. A news article mentioned the wife’s IG account. I looked at it. They had journeyed through the Gobi Dessert, hiked across glaciers in Iceland.. the husband has several online posts about recent hikes in California.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another update from websleuths:

“Investigators believe the family hiked most of a grueling 8.5-mile loop — including 5 miles of steep southern exposure trail with little to no trees or shade in 103 to 109 degree heat — before succumbing on the return to their truck on a steep switchback.” Investigators have ruled out 2 causes of death in case of Mariposa family, but still have no answers

I’m fat and indoorsy-how long does it take athletic, experienced hikers to do a difficult 8 mile hike? It does seem awfully crazy to attempt that with a baby. I’m guessing at least 3 hours or so? Do babies actually want to chill out in a hiking backpack for that long?

I can manage 3.5 miles in one hour on flat terrain. I can maintain that for hours. Yes, it's slow.

The problem with their hike is that down is always easy. Up is hard. You don't save much energy doing down hill. Not enough to make up the extra effort for the return climb.

The more I read 8 mile hike, steep, uphill, brought thick furry fog, over 100 degrees, I think the couple were not sharp, not experienced. Plus, I scope out hikes. That couple simply googled it, then went next 105 degree day with a baby and dog?? Heat stroke more and more I am thinking. And wife tried to get back to get help but couldnt.

These were experienced hikers and adventurers. A news article mentioned the wife’s IG account. I looked at it. They had journeyed through the Gobi Dessert, hiked across glaciers in Iceland.. the husband has several online posts about recent hikes in California.

I suspect they had guides in the Goni and Iceland. And no baby. I’m guessing mid hike baby overheated and had a seizure, and they poured water all over it trying to cool it down. Then they double timed back, saving water for baby, and in their rush and panic each suffered heat stroke.

[Anonymous]

I’ll bet the dog was struggling with heat stroke and/or burned paws, and they ended up having to carry it uphill in the heat of the day. They both started struggling but she was in better shape so the decision was made for her to go back to the truck. It would make sense for him to stay put with the baby, dog, and water. But she succumbed and he wasn’t able to carry the baby, let alone the dog, Ultimately, the heat got them all.

At some point they could have decided put the dog in the river to cool it off—maybe they even backtracked if it started struggling on the uphill return. If they knew about the toxic algae they could have decided to take the chance if they thought it might save the dog’s life. But even if the dog got better it would probably still need to be helped. So, now they’re way behind schedule and have a big, wet, sick dog to drag uphill in the heat of the day. It could be that the toxicity kicked in around the time they decided she should go for help, and it was the combination of the toxin and heat that got them.

[Anonymous]

I hope this does not become one of those unsolved mysteries. Everyone following and especially family/friends needs closure on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they had heat stroke, why was there water left in their camel pack?

We don't know how much they had and if they were conserving it. Read what happens to a person's mental state when heat stroke takes over.

Plus water will not save you from heat stroke. You have to cool down the core body temperature and water alone will not cut it.