My first hunch remains my current hunch: I think he experienced health issues. My initial thought was that he might not be in the best shape to handle what seems like an "easy" walk, but with the heat, the trail is not, in fact, easy.
Circumstantial clues, with lots of assumptions on my part, are:
* His wife didn't go with him - so I'm making the guess they are not a hiking couple. I'm assuming they are not on a hiking vacation but more of a sight-seeing vacation.
* The trail is "short" - he wasn't looking for an all-day hike, but simply a morning hike.
* He gave a specific time, I'm assuming, for his return. When he didn't hit that time, the wife very quickly was concerned enough to report him missing. She knew he needed help soon.
* If he wanted to disappear, I would think he'd give a longer window of time to his wife - he'd tell her he would be gone for several hours rather than a couple.
* If someone wanted him disappeared, I don't think they would report him missing so soon.
* He's not from the area, but from a much cooler climate (Canada). He might have underestimated the effect of the heat and hiking hills in the extremely dry heat. Even if he was used to higher hills, he might not have been experienced hiking hills in extreme heat. It's even too hot for the rescue crew - you know it must be brutal.
* My hunch is that he might not be in the best physical shape (just a hunch - I could be wrong).
I'm thinking something like a heart attack or sunstroke hit him - perhaps he then got disoriented or simply disabled enough that he couldn't stay on the trail.
Still baffling....why the rescuers can't find a trace of him. They know what signs to look for. That is very puzzling.
I hope today is the day he is found.
jmo
