On November 4 (evening), Inyo County Sheriff’s Office received notification of a missing hiker. The reporting party said that a 40-year old man from Huntington Beach had planned on hiking somewhere out of the Bishop area on Sunday but failed to return home on Monday.
The missing man, who was described as an experienced hiker, did not disclose his hiking plans or potential routes. However, he recently purchased an ice ax and crampons, and participated in mountaineering training courses. He was equipped for day-hiking only; he had an InReach device that he hiked with, but it was never activated. After checking trailheads throughout the Bishop area, Sheriff’s Deputies located his vehicle at North Lake shortly after midnight on Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday, a forensic analysis of the subject’s cell phone activity revealed only one call very early in the morning from downtown Bishop on Sunday November 3 (before his planned hike). Inyo Search and Rescue used aerial support to fly the areas near and around North Lake.
On Wednesday, ground teams searched the areas of Piute Pass, Lamarck Col and Mt. Emerson. Aerial reconnaissance with night-vision capability was used Wednesday night.
On Thursday, ground teams continued to scour the areas near and around North Lake, paying extra attention to Wonder Lake Basin, Lamarck Col, Mt. Lamarck summit, and Mt. Emerson. Aerial support was used again (H-40 out of Fresno). Sequoia and Kings National Park ran a joint operation concentrating on the following locations: Darwin Canyon and Mount Darwin.
On Nov. 7 around 2:30pm, Sequoia and Kings National Park located the subject deceased at the top of the Darwin glacier, near the base of the notch to go up Mount Darwin. Sequoia and Kings conducted the investigation and recovery.