Strange, Sad Family Fatality in the Sierra NF

[Harlen]

I was just sent this by hiking partner Carleton, and it's disturbing for the unexplained nature of it. Condolences to the families involved first, but do any of you have any ideas as to how this happened? I first thought of a lightning strike, but wouldn't that leave evidence of burns, or ? The autopsy seems to have shown nothing yet. And what about the risk of toxic algal blooms, which too are mentioned. There is that strange reference to "a report" that was made re. an "illness," which before had been called a "fatality."

On Aug. 19, the California State Water Resources Control Board, using a water quality reporting map on its website, warned the public to “stay away from algae and scum in the water” near the south fork of the Merced River in the Sierra National Forest.

An incident description said that the agency had received a report of a “suspected illness” in the area. The warning previously made reference to a fatality, but was changed to say illness, The Bee reported.

Where is that area "Devil Gulch?" Sad, sad, but how can we learn from it?
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/us/c ... ticleShare

Maverick, sorry if this should be placed elsewhere, feel free to move it. I expect you are considering this event yourself now?

[maverick]

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=21879&p=168064#p168064

[giantbrookie]

There area the family died in is in the S. Merced R. canyon. The S. Fork flows into the main Merced a bit downstream of El Portal. The family was on the last part of an 8-mile hike, a grueling, unshaded, ascent up many switchbacks to where their car was parked. The temperatures that afternoon at the site were estimated to be in the 103-109F range. They have closed the Merced downstream of where the family died owing to a toxic algae bloom, but toxicology results are still pending so they don't know if drinking tainted water was in fact the reason for their deaths. If toxicology results are negative, then the most likely cause of death is heat exhaustion/dehydration, which seems to be the most likely culprit, given the weather conditions that day.

This seems to be similar to a well-publicized case in the eastern SF Bay Area where a super fit trail runner vanished and could not be found for over a month. His body was found beneath a tree on Pleasanton Ridge and all signs pointed to the fact that he died from heat exhaustion--it was 106F when he went out for an 8-mile trail run. In fact the SF Chronicle recently ran an article on the hazards of high heat to outdoor activities, citing the cases of the runner and this young family.

[Harlen]

Thanks for the prompt and thoughtful replies John and Peter. What a hell of a thing to happen. If any others, like me, did not notice the original post in Campfire by Maverick, his link above is to a longer article published a couple weeks ago. Take care, Ian.

[freestone]

Wonder if filtered water would still contain the toxins.

[balzaccom]

I've done trail work on this trail in the last couple of years, right after it burned in a big fire. There would be no shade on this trail now...and it's a low elevation, steep climb up out of the river.

Still, it is odd that both adults would have died there. I can understand one person succumbing to dehydration. I can understand the dog not leaving, and the baby being stuck there. But both people die of dehydration at the same time and in the same place? That's harder to explain.

[Jimr]

I was following this incident a few weeks ago. It was reported (I can't find it now) that she was found farther up trail. If true, that would make more sense. He succumbed to the heat and she tried to solo out for help, but eventually succumbed to the heat as well. The tainted water from algae blooms just made no sense to me. Most waterborne illnesses won't take you out that fast.