As McClish told it, the 34-year-old outdoors enthusiast from Boulder Creek, California, lost his bearings after beginning his hike the morning of 11 June. He had not informed anyone else of his plans, so it would not be until the afternoon of Thursday, 20 June, that the unkempt-looking hiker was found at the bottom of a remote canyon and rescued.
McClish spent much of the interim going up and down canyons, sitting by waterfalls and using his boot to collect water to drink and keep himself hydrated. He also sustained himself by collecting and eating berries, he said.
At one point, McClish said to KSBW, a mountain lion began following him – but the creature kept its distance and showed no interest in harming him. He said he would sleep on a bed of wet leaves, intermittently yell for help and think of what he would do to provide himself his next meal.
Something is not quite adding up in this story. People are saying he may have been complacent, but for some reason I feel like we’re not getting the full picture. Family or friends didn’t realize he was missing until father’s day? It’s 2024, even if you don’t have cell signal your gps signal stays on. You should be able to at the minimum gauge north, right? Why would you bring scissors on a hike-was he planning to cut snowflakes from leaves? What is going on???
Plus… this isn’t a remote area—you can walk across the whole range from Santa Cruz to Los Gatos in less than a day. Even if you were too panicked to think of an obvious strategy like “follow a stream” or “always walk downhill” and were essentially stumbling around blind, it seems like you’d be bound to run into a hiking trail or other landmark by chance alone within a day or two.
Good point. He was probably walking in circles.
Yes, you can just walk out in a day. Not only are there a ton of trails, there are roads and people living in the mountains. There’s all kinds of hippie retreats in those mountains. He must have been going in circles in one small area.
Just because he does this often, doesn’t mean he’s good at it. Not wanting to be connected doesn’t mean you can’t take your phone. Just turn it off. Loose your bearings? Just go downhill and follow streams. You’ll have water eventually, it will lead to a road. A canteen is super basic for anything more then a basic walk.
He lost his bearings.
Sounds like a mental issue.