This guy must be in some kind of shape, because he survived two stormy nights in the American River canyon, dressing in running clothes. Wow.



Runner found

I hope they are able to walk him out!

What would be wrong with a a runner carrying a light pack with a few "overclothes"? It wouln't weigh much and would sure help in situations like this.

Also, all members of a party need to look out for each other. Otherwise you just have 7 solo hikers or runners wandering the landscape.

A new news item this morning in the paper. The guy got lost. He kept going in circles. A GPS would have helped him more than an extra piece of clothing. He did have a runner's jacket. Two nights out in wet-cold just at freezing - amazing survival skills. He said he did isometric exercises all night.

Not sure if it is really feasible to take gear to survive a night out at 30-degreesF while running. He could have carried one of those 3-oz aluminum survival blankets. To me the key issue is that he separated from his group. If it is just a practice run, I would think a buddy system should be used.

A snow border also spent the night out a bit further up the hill. He, of course, had his snow bordering gear. Conditions were a bit colder.

It is good news that two people who could have died survived. Massive search efforts helped. But each fellow had himself to keep him alive until found.

I think this is an amazing survival story. In a later article it appears he found his way out.

He got lost when the slow group stopped and he decided to run forward to the faster group. Would we criticize him if he ran alone and got lost? Maybe, but many like hiking alone and it could happen to them.

It's too bad we probably won't hear the whole story. Hopefully they don't charge him for the search.

I have hiked in that area and it is easy to take a wrong turn. It is very vegetated and hard to see far to orient. Every time there is a fire in that terrain, many side roads and trails are made and none with signs. There was a major fire last year. Given the confusing trails breaking from the group was probably not the best decision. But the fellow was an amazing survivalist! The weather here has been horrible the last few days - rain/snow and temperature hovering around freezing. Yosemite Valley was covered with snow this morning (4000 feet). Snow went down to 3000 feet. An inch of rain fell in my neighborhood. And it was windy.

What is interesting about the snowboarder is that he had a split board so in effect he had a pair of snowshoes once he took the board apart. Very helpful under theses conditions.

Boarder found

Couldn't have conjured a worse set of conditions to endure with scant clothing and gear--wet and in the 30s, then snow. He kept his wits, did the right things to survive the night, and somehow made his way back to the trail after not one, but two nights. These incidents basically never turn out well, except when they do.

To add unneeded drama, the area isn't all that far from where Barbara Schoener was killed by a mountain lion while trail running.

See, it's not all THAT urbanized out here.

Cheers,