Found Deceased CA - Paul Miller, 51, Canadian missing in Joshua Tree National Park, San Bernardino Co., 13 Jul 2018

[MaryG12]

I hope it's okay to post this link! This site had the best pictures I have found of the trail and I think it would be easy to get lost if you went off trail. Fortynine Palms Oasis in Joshua Tree National Park

Thanks for posting that link. I'm wondering how easy it is to lose footing along the edge where the trail meets with the basin - I'm looking at the first main photo with the caption "The trail to Fortynine Palms Oasis".

Plus I went through my photo collection and guess what I found - bighorn sheep!

Estes Park, Colorado. We nicknamed them the Bromley family.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I hope it's okay to post this link! This site had the best pictures I have found of the trail and I think it would be easy to get lost if you went off trail. Fortynine Palms Oasis in Joshua Tree National Park

Super helpful, thank you!
He could easily be wedged between two rocks unseen. Keep up the searches!

 

[jash]

In the comments of the original post made about Paul Miller on the JTNPS Facebook page, a local indicated when leaving the oasis, there is a "trail" that goes off east and when someone takes that route by mistake, they eventually end up behind the Stater Bros. grocery store in Twentynine Palms. Another local said it happened to friends of his. So perhaps people can and do get "lost" on that trail but end up walking out themselves (without the Park's knowledge/involvement).

I've attached Google map images. I circled the oasis and the grocery store, and roughly traced the real trail in yellow.

Joshua Tree National Park

 

[MaryG12]

Super helpful, thank you!
He could easily be wedged between two rocks unseen. Keep up the searches!

Have the search teams explored the outcrops and similar rock formations for him?

 

[Yvettea]

In the comments of the original post made about Paul Miller on the JTNPS Facebook page, a local indicated when leaving the oasis, there is a "trail" that goes off east and when someone takes that route by mistake, they eventually end up behind the Stater Bros. grocery store in Twentynine Palms. Another local said it happened to friends of his. So perhaps people can and do get "lost" on that trail but end up walking out themselves (without the Park's knowledge/involvement).

I've attached Google map images. I circled the oasis and the grocery store, and roughly traced the real trail in yellow.

Joshua Tree National Park

Does it look to you like you can continue on the trail to a populated area?

 

[jash]

Does it look to you like you can continue on the trail to a populated area?

I'm not a local so I can't say for sure, but looking at the map, I'd say yes. The supermarket is in town, and there are houses all around. Just from eyeballing the google satellite image, I'd say the false trail is twice as long as the real one.

I'm not suggesting this is what happened to Paul, but I just wanted to address the fact that Park officials imply this is a straightforward out-and-back trail on which no one gets lost. Based on what I've read, it is possible to get turned around while exploring the oasis and then head off on what looks like a trail but isn't. Fortunately it leads to civilization.

 

[jash]

Have the search teams explored the outcrops and similar rock formations for him?

I believe that is their focus this weekend.

Still missing: Search for missing Canadian last seen hiking in Joshua Tree to resume this weekend

Rescue crews will have the help from technical specialists with high-angle rescue skills as they focus on areas with steep ravines and cliffs. The crews will complete a series of grid searches in the northern section of the 794,000-acre park.

 

[jash]

Paul's wife has released more information via this new article:
Wife of missing hiker from Canada describes 'hell' each day brings since Paul Miller disappeared at Joshua Tree

Stephanie Miller last saw her husband of 26 years about 9 a.m. July 13 — the final day of an anniversary trip that started in Las Vegas and brought them to Joshua Tree for a week of hiking.

“We had just had breakfast and went back to the hotel room. I had been planning on going on the trail with him, but just wasn’t quite feeling up to it so we planned that I would stay back at the hotel,” she said.

[Once again, we're told she last saw him around 9 in the morning. This is the time Neil_witness stated he saw Paul on the trail.]

 

[jash]

Wife of missing hiker from Canada describes 'hell' each day brings since Paul Miller disappeared at Joshua Tree

He was wearing dark shorts, dark gray — almost black — hiking boots and a black hat and sunglasses, Miller said.

“For the life of me ... I can’t remember his T-shirt,” Miller said.

He also had a CamelBak hydration pack and a Canon camera.

I'm glad she addressed the t-shirt colour -- it's a question I've had since the beginning. Unfortunately, it sounds like his clothes will not really stand out.

 

[Satchie]

This new article refers to a hiker that was lost off this same trail only last May. (She's actually Kiwi, not Canadian)

'I’m grateful to be alive.' New Zealand hiker recalls ordeal at Joshua Tree National Park

"She began her hike on the Lost Palms Oasis Trail at about 9:15 a.m.

The 7.5-mile trail is a popular one, but on a Tuesday before the Memorial Day weekend, Nelson said she saw only a couple of other people using the trail.

Just after 11 a.m. – two hours into the hike – she fell.

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had gone a mile off the trail,” Nelson said."

Luckily for her, she survived the fall and waved a (possibly bright coloured?) t-shirt to attract attention from a helicopter.

ETA, also she fell in May, not July.

 

[jash]

This new article refers to a hiker that was lost off this same trail only last May. (She's actually Kiwi, not Canadian)

'I’m grateful to be alive.' New Zealand hiker recalls ordeal at Joshua Tree National Park

"She began her hike on the Lost Palms Oasis Trail at about 9:15 a.m.

The 7.5-mile trail is a popular one, but on a Tuesday before the Memorial Day weekend, Nelson said she saw only a couple of other people using the trail.

Just after 11 a.m. – two hours into the hike – she fell.

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had gone a mile off the trail,” Nelson said."

Luckily for her, she survived the fall and waved a (possibly bright coloured?) t-shirt to attract attention from a helicopter.

ETA, also she fell in May, not July.

The Lost Palms Oasis Trail is different from the Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail. It's in the southern part of JTNP (it takes 75 minutes to get from one to the other by car, or an unfathomable 16 hours to hike).

 

[zecats]

delete

 

[Yvettea]

I'm not a local so I can't say for sure, but looking at the map, I'd say yes. The supermarket is in town, and there are houses all around. Just from eyeballing the google satellite image, I'd say the false trail is twice as long as the real one.

I'm not suggesting this is what happened to Paul, but I just wanted to address the fact that Park officials imply this is a straightforward out-and-back trail on which no one gets lost. Based on what I've read, it is possible to get turned around while exploring the oasis and then head off on what looks like a trail but isn't. Fortunately it leads to civilization.

We haven’t been told he had a map or a compass. He didn’t have a cell phone so the possibility of getting lost is there especially if he could have left the springs on the wrong trail.

I tend to think that’s what happened if he was there at all. The pressure of getting back to catch his flight could have factored into getting lost.

 

[Sillybilly]

Wife of missing hiker from Canada describes 'hell' each day brings since Paul Miller disappeared at Joshua Tree

He was wearing dark shorts, dark gray — almost black — hiking boots and a black hat and sunglasses, Miller said.

“For the life of me ... I can’t remember his T-shirt,” Miller said.

He also had a CamelBak hydration pack and a Canon camera.

I'm glad she addressed the t-shirt colour -- it's a question I've had since the beginning. Unfortunately, it sounds like his clothes will not really stand out.

Other than the unknown colour of the T-shirt, everything else he was wearing was black ... not great for the hot weather in JTNP in July.

 

[rosesfromangels]

As I posted upthread, I am uncharacteristically on the fence with this case.

One other point that isn’t adding up is that there have been no reports of hovering vulture sightings.

Really conflicted on this one.

 

[Satchie]

The Lost Palms Oasis Trail is different from the Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail. It's in the southern part of JTNP (it takes 75 minutes to get from one to the other by car, or an unfathomable 16 hours to hike).

Oops, my mistake

 

[zecats]

Other than the unknown colour of the T-shirt, everything else he was wearing was black ... not great for the hot weather in JTNP in July.

Boy do I agree with that. I don't understand when I see folks anywhere on a hot summer day wearing black or dark colored clothing, but especially in the desert Southwest. Seems that alone would have taken a toll on him.

 

[RickshawFan]

Never mind. My observations are same as Satchie's upthread.

 

[RickshawFan]

Hiking Etiquette (U.S. National Park Service)

Stay on the trail. Don’t step off trail unless you absolutely must when yielding. Going off trail can damage or kill certain plant or animal species, and can hurt the ecosystems that surround the trail. Always practice Leave No Trace principles: Leave rocks, vegetation, and artifacts where you find them for others to enjoy.

Another link with lots of great information:

Hike Smart (U.S. National Park Service)

He could have taken a pit stop and got himself in trouble....

 

[MaryG12]

He could have taken a pit stop and got himself in trouble....

No bushes/trees along that trail?