Getting out into nature during a hike is good for the mind and the body. Nature helps relieve stress, anxiety, and depression.
But, when you hike, you’ll want to do it safely and be aware of the health risks you can face while you’re out of doors. These risks can include hyperthermia—a heat-related illness,—dehydration, and the ever-present threat of tick bites.
Take the story of a family that mysteriously died while taking an August hike on a hiking trail, near Yosemite.
Ellen Chung, 31, Jonathan Gerrish, 45, their daughter Miju, 1, and their dog Oski were found dead along a hiking trail in the Sierra National Forest on Aug. 17.
The sprawling investigation also looked at possibilities ranging from foul play to lightning strikes to mine gas to toxic algae.
However, after a lengthy investigation into their cause of death — which remained a mystery for months — the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office announced in October that the family died from hyperthermia and probable dehydration. Their dog, 8, also suffered a heat-related death.
“Heat-related deaths are extremely difficult to investigate, and we thank you all for being patient with us,” Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said in a press conference.
According to the investigative records recently obtained by several outlets, experts believe that the couple likely died while trying to save their daughter and themselves.
According to a report, a survival trainer worked with the police and said that the couple likely died while trying to save their daughter.
“Sadly, I believe they were caught off guard, and once they realized their situation, they died trying to save their child and each other,” the unidentified trainer wrote. “It is likely the child began to succumb first, which hurried the parents’ efforts up the hill. When one could no longer continue, they stayed behind to care for the child and pet, while the other tried to forge on and get help for their loved ones. It is a tragedy of the highest order.”
Back in August, relatives reported the family missing. Two days later, authorities found their corpses along the California hiking trail. The family had a single 85-ounce water bottle that was dry as a bone. The family had gone hiking on a trail that was 6.4 miles long, and they collapsed about a mile and a half from where they had parked their car.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the family made five phone calls to various numbers but did not try to call 911.
“The loss of the family is pain beyond words,” relatives said in a statement. “When that pain is compacted by lack of knowledge about their death, the questions of where, why, when, and how to fill the void, day and night.”
It’s rare for multiple hikers to succumb to heatstroke at the same time, according to search and rescue professionals, but during this unprecedentedly blistering summer, hikers fell ill from the heat and died across the state. As climate change ramps up, it’s only going to get worse, experts say, meaning that Californians need to learn how to protect themselves and their families.
Already, too many of us are venturing out in extreme heat without understanding the risks or bringing enough water.
Although heat-related deaths can be difficult to determine conclusively and are not tracked in California, at least nine people collapsed and died while hiking in extreme temperatures in California this summer.
It’s not just hikers who are overheating in California and dying. A recent Los Angeles Times investigation found that between 2010 and 2019, 599 death certificates in California listed heat exposure as the cause. In looking more closely at temperatures and mortality data, though, the LA Times analysis found that heat likely factored into about 3,900 deaths.
Watch the video below for more details:
Sources: AWM, Los Angeles Times
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