Found Deceased CA - Lifei Huang, 22, hiking on Mount Baldy, 4 Feb 2024

[Sundog]

Friend Cherry Li and cousin Ally Zhang were the last to hear from Huang on Sunday afternoon, according to ABC affiliate KABC-TV.

Loved Ones Clinging to Hope Days After 22-Year-Old Goes Missing During Snowy Mt. Baldy Hike

Friends and family of a California woman who went missing on Mount Baldy amid a strong weekend storm have hope that she is still alive.

people.com

I wonder if LH went on the hike with the intention of just taking some pictures and video to send to her family and friends and then planned to return before dark, but the elements were worse than she thought and she couldn't go back. Keeping LH and her family in my prayers.


ETA: We used to have a summer home on Mt Baldy when we lived in Southern Caifornia but would rarely go up in the winter, just a few times to check on the house, and when the winter weather wasn't too bad. In the winter we always used chains of course, because the switchbacks/roads up the mountain would be wet from rain or icy from freezing temps, and although we didn't hike, the drive itself could be terrifying in winter.

 

[Coldpizza]

Apologies if this has already been mentioned but has anyone considered she may have encountered a wild predator? I used to hike up there decades ago and just last year I hiked in the high sierras. Common predators are Mountain Lions Bobcats and Blackbears. I've personally seen a huge bull torn to pieces and gutted by a Mountain Lion. Sorry to be graphic but I'll never forget it. I sure hope with all my heart that isn't the case here and Lifei is found safe and home with her loved ones soon.

 

[iamshadow21]

Apologies if this has already been mentioned but has anyone considered she may have encountered a wild predator? I used to hike up there decades ago and just last year I hiked in the high sierras. Common predators are Mountain Lions Bobcats and Blackbears. I've personally seen a huge bull torn to pieces and gutted by a Mountain Lion. Sorry to be graphic but I'll never forget it. I sure hope with all my heart that isn't the case here and Lifei is found safe and home with her loved ones soon.

Would there be bears in February? Genuinely asking, no bears in my country. (Koalas are not bears.)

 

[ifindedout]

Would there be bears in February? Genuinely asking, no bears in my country. (Koalas are not bears.)

Black bears would probably be hibernating at this time of year.

American black bear - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Coldpizza]

Black bears would probably be hibernating at this time of year.

Good question! according to CA Fish and wildlife Black Bears hardly hibernate at all.https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Black-Bear

 

[SimplyCass]

California woman, 22, goes missing while hiking during historic storm

California woman Lifei Huang is missing after attempting to hike the state's most treacherous mountain in the middle of a historic storm.

www.sfgate.com

Loved ones distraught as crews search for missing hiker on Mt. Baldy

Crews are searching for a missing hiker who was last seen on Mount Baldy amid a snowstorm in San Bernardino County. The missing woman, Lifei Huang, 22, from El Monte, was last seen on Feb. 4, when …

ktla.com

Pululu (@adadada_h) • Instagram photos and videos

707 Followers, 310 Following, 7 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Pululu (@adadada_h)

www.instagram.com

Alright so this is kinda circular but...KTLA is using social media photos of Ms. Huang on its article, listing adadada_h as her Instagram handle. Other stories or missing person articles use a photo of her in a green top, which as far as I can see, was first posted to adadada_h in August 2023.

KTLA article
- she texted a group of friends about her plans on Sunday
- she sent out a video to her boyfriend and posted on social media.
- (IMO) However, since there are no recent posts, they are most likely reels/stories which disappear and have to be screen shotted by someone.
- last communications stopped at around 4 pm.

 

[ch_13]

Good question! according to CA Fish and wildlife Black Bears hardly hibernate at all.https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Black-Bear

While black bears may not hibernate in the scientific sense of the term, during winter they keep to their den and remain sedentary while drifting in and out of sleep. So the odds of Lifei encountering one during a snowstorm is almost non-existent.


edit - Here's what the text at your link says:

Hibernation​

Black bears are not “true hibernators” instead capable of dozing for several months over winter. During this time, black bears are able to retain a body temperature of 88°F or higher, reduce their metabolic rate in half, and live off their own fat.

• Weight loss during hibernation is extreme. Adult males will typically drop between 15 and 30 percent of their body weight. Adult females can lose up to 40 percent of their body weight.
• Black bears prefer secure, thermally protective den sites often associated with large trees, but have been found to den in slash piles, under large rocks, and even open ground.

 

[GraceG]

This may have already been reported but her hat and camera bag were found. What was troubling in this article is one of her friends said she had no experience hiking in snowy or rainy conditions prior to the hike that Sunday. Loved Ones Clinging to Hope Days After 22-Year-Old Goes Missing During Snowy Mt. Baldy Hike

 

[RickshawFan]

Apologies if this has already been mentioned but has anyone considered she may have encountered a wild predator? I used to hike up there decades ago and just last year I hiked in the high sierras. Common predators are Mountain Lions Bobcats and Blackbears. I've personally seen a huge bull torn to pieces and gutted by a Mountain Lion. Sorry to be graphic but I'll never forget it. I sure hope with all my heart that isn't the case here and Lifei is found safe and home with her loved ones soon.

Very low likelihood of predator encounter. They're much rarer than folks imagine, and the weather was deathly. Let's say, for the good of the order, 0.0000000000000000001%.

 

[RickshawFan]

This may have already been reported but her hat and camera bag were found. What was troubling in this article is one of her friends said she had no experience hiking in snowy or rainy conditions prior to the hike that Sunday. Loved Ones Clinging to Hope Days After 22-Year-Old Goes Missing During Snowy Mt. Baldy Hike

Bluntly, it was clear she had no experience in those conditions, since otherwise she wouldn't have gone.

 

[RickshawFan]

Would there be bears in February? Genuinely asking, no bears in my country. (Koalas are not bears.)

They are kind of mostly asleep. If they sensed a predator, they'd wake up. IMO no reason for them to leave their cozy bed in freeze rain blizzard conditions. They fatten up in fall, so they don't have to eat during the winter. Cubs would be getting born right about now, I would think, or at least moms would be pregnant.

Black bears generally don't want to have anything to do with humans. I have had many encounters while hiking. Attacking people is not their thing.

There is NO chance an animal attack was the problem in this case. Consider how many of these hiker cases we've had on WS that have ever involved an animal attack.....

 

[sasha17]

This may have already been reported but her hat and camera bag were found. What was troubling in this article is one of her friends said she had no experience hiking in snowy or rainy conditions prior to the hike that Sunday. Loved Ones Clinging to Hope Days After 22-Year-Old Goes Missing During Snowy Mt. Baldy Hike

I'm thinking about the hat and camera bag. Surely a lightweight hat could be blown around in a snowstorm and not be in the location where it was lost, but if the camera bag had any weight to it (was the camera inside?), it likely wasn't blown away in a snowstorm. The question then is did LH place it where it was found? Did she fall from a distance above where it was found? I'd be curious to know if the hat and bag were found on the trail or off the trail, and if the location where they were found was near her last pinged location.

 

[LAhiker]

This may have already been reported but her hat and camera bag were found. What was troubling in this article is one of her friends said she had no experience hiking in snowy or rainy conditions prior to the hike that Sunday. Loved Ones Clinging to Hope Days After 22-Year-Old Goes Missing During Snowy Mt. Baldy Hike

One problem with inexperienced hikers is that they don't know what they don't know. That is, they may not realize that there are certain things that they need to know, that certain conditions are dangerous, etc.

As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, social media may play a role in this by making things look easy and safe that are neither. For instance, many Instagram summit photos, even from large mountains, depict a woman in a sports bra and tights with the summit marker. Presumably, unless the day was very warm, the woman wore hiking clothes to and from the summit. But a newbie might not know that and might think that the tops of mountains are warm, friendly places.

Clearly Lifei knew more than that -- she had a rain jacket and goggles -- but it seems likely that she underestimated the bad weather.

JMO

 

[RickshawFan]

I'm thinking about the hat and camera bag. Surely a lightweight hat could be blown around in a snowstorm and not be in the location where it was lost, but if the camera bag had any weight to it (was the camera inside?), it likely wasn't blown away in a snowstorm. The question then is did LH place it where it was found? Did she fall from a distance above where it was found? I'd be curious to know if the hat and bag were found on the trail or off the trail, and if the location where they were found was near her last pinged location.

If it was a knit hat, it likely slid off (many do), or she pulled it off to take a better photo. This is what makes me concerned, especially since then she wouldn't have a hat, which by itself could be dangerous. I reckon a knit hat would warm you 10 degrees, but an inexperienced person might think the hood from a rain jacket would do. It might help, but IME not the same. I wonder if her fingers froze? Could she not work the zippers on her camera bag? Perhaps she had the camera around her neck, and didn't realize she dropped the bag. I'm not totally convinced she would be found in the area. She could have been cold and oblivious.
If SAR can't find her remains (with clothing--was it bright?) on top of the snow, and they didn't see footsteps, but they located the camera bag and hat unburied...to me that's odd. Perhaps they got dropped in a stream where snow wasn't accumulating? If you dropped those items in a stream, I'm not sure you'd pick them up in those conditions. A hat dropped in a stream would be useless.

 

[sasha17]

If it was a knit hat, it likely slid off (many do), or she pulled it off to take a better photo. This is what makes me concerned, especially since then she wouldn't have a hat, which by itself could be dangerous. I reckon a knit hat would warm you 10 degrees, but an inexperienced person might think the hood from a rain jacket would do. It might help, but IME not the same. I wonder if her fingers froze? Could she not work the zippers on her camera bag? Perhaps she had the camera around her neck, and didn't realize she dropped the bag. I'm not totally convinced she would be found in the area. She could have been cold and oblivious.
If SAR can't find her remains (with clothing--was it bright?) on top of the snow, and they didn't see footsteps, but they located the camera bag and hat unburied...to me that's odd. Perhaps they got dropped in a stream where snow wasn't accumulating?

The loss of the hat also made me think about the symptoms of hypothermia, one of which is paradoxical undressing.

 

[RickshawFan]

One problem with inexperienced hikers is that they don't know what they don't know. That is, they may not realize that there are certain things that they need to know, that certain conditions are dangerous, etc.

As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, social media may play a role in this by making things look easy and safe that are neither. For instance, many Instagram summit photos, even from large mountains, depict a woman in a sports bra and tights with the summit marker. Presumably, unless the day was very warm, the woman wore hiking clothes to and from the summit. But a newbie might not know that and might think that the tops of mountains are warm, friendly places.

Clearly Lifei knew more than that -- she had a rain jacket and goggles -- but it seems likely that she underestimated the bad weather.

JMO

I don't get the sports bra and tights, either. Some of those peaks are at altitude, and it's super easy to get burned. Sunscreen is kinda ick when you're hiking (I never wear it hiking, or mosquito repellent; I just cover up). And then, if you fall on scree or a rocky trail, your pants are shredded and you've got excruciating road burn.

 

[Seni]

One problem with inexperienced hikers is that they don't know what they don't know. That is, they may not realize that there are certain things that they need to know, that certain conditions are dangerous, etc.

As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, social media may play a role in this by making things look easy and safe that are neither. For instance, many Instagram summit photos, even from large mountains, depict a woman in a sports bra and tights with the summit marker. Presumably, unless the day was very warm, the woman wore hiking clothes to and from the summit. But a newbie might not know that and might think that the tops of mountains are warm, friendly places.

Clearly Lifei knew more than that -- she had a rain jacket and goggles -- but it seems likely that she underestimated the bad weather.

JMO

What she has was inadequate! Totally inadequate.!
How can you figure "she knew more than that"??

 

[RickshawFan]

The loss of the hat also made me think about the symptoms of hypothermia, one of which is paradoxical undressing.

Yes, but interesting to me, it didn't seem like they had tracks from that location, otherwise they would have recovered her by now, I guess.

 

[RickshawFan]

What she has was inadequate! Totally inadequate.!
How can you figure "she knew more than that"??

In defense of @LAhiker , I took her/him to mean that although what Lifei had was totally inadequate, she made a start with the goggles and rain gear.
I'm not sure those choices reflect knowing, though. Maybe Lifei just bought a new rain jacket, and wanted to try it out or take photos in real actual frosty rain. No telling how inexperienced folks decide on gear for a hike. Perhaps the goggles looked cool and would make a wow-ee impression on IG?
IMO, she had no experience whatever, except maybe a short sunshine hike or two in summer. I wonder what she had for footwear? Trail runners?

 

[RickshawFan]

California woman, 22, goes missing while hiking during historic storm

California woman Lifei Huang is missing after attempting to hike the state's most treacherous mountain in the middle of a historic storm.

www.sfgate.com

Loved ones distraught as crews search for missing hiker on Mt. Baldy

Crews are searching for a missing hiker who was last seen on Mount Baldy amid a snowstorm in San Bernardino County. The missing woman, Lifei Huang, 22, from El Monte, was last seen on Feb. 4, when …

ktla.com

Pululu (@adadada_h) • Instagram photos and videos

707 Followers, 310 Following, 7 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Pululu (@adadada_h)

www.instagram.com

Alright so this is kinda circular but...KTLA is using social media photos of Ms. Huang on its article, listing adadada_h as her Instagram handle. Other stories or missing person articles use a photo of her in a green top, which as far as I can see, was first posted to adadada_h in August 2023.

KTLA article
- she texted a group of friends about her plans on Sunday
- she sent out a video to her boyfriend and posted on social media.
- (IMO) However, since there are no recent posts, they are most likely reels/stories which disappear and have to be screen shotted by someone.
- last communications stopped at around 4 pm.

Was she at the trailhead at 2 pm? Or was that when she left home?