High Sierra Topix

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SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. -- Park rangers have retrieved the body of a hiker who fell over a cliff to his death after climbing to the summit of California's Mt. Whitney.
National Park officials say rangers from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks recovered the body of 60-year-old Yukio Kato of Torrance from the bottom of the 200-foot cliff on the Mount Whitney Trail on Monday.
Kato fell a day earlier while on his way back to the trailhead after reaching the mountain's summit. He was at about 13,500 feet in elevation when he fell.
Officials say park law enforcement dispatched a helicopter and park medic to the scene, but did not have enough daylight hours to retrieve the body.
The cause of Kato's fall is under investigation.

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How sad. I wondered what happened to cause the fall.

We've had a sad summer of climbing deaths in the High Sierra, but this one does seem a bit odd compared to the others, at least at first report. Whereas the two previous fatal falls occurred on difficult, loose class 3, this one, at least as per reports, came from the trail. Of course there are drop offs along the side of the trail but we really don't expect one to fall from a well maintained trail at this time of year (a fall on steep snow across the Shepherd Pass trail in early season would be another matter).