I was the last person to see Paul alive.
I was interviewed by park personnel on Saturday 14, the day after he went missing. I’d seen one of the posters describing his disappearance and called in from near the park.
I’m posting this because there’s a lot of junk been written here. He died out there. And his friends and family might be reading this.
I did the hike that morning to 49 palms. I started out from the trailhead about 7.30 am and was at the palms at 8.30. I started back at 8.40. The hike both ways is up to a ridge at half way and then down the other side. Going back, I went about 2/3 of the way up to the ridge and then stopped for 2 or 3 minutes in the shade from a large boulder next to the trail. I was there not earlier than 9am and not later than 9.15am.
Paul came round the bend from the ridge and down the trail towards me. I had him in sight for maybe 10 or 20 seconds. As he went past me I said Hi, he said Hi, and he carried straight on.
He looked in OK shape - hot but nothing out of the ordinary. Hat plus backpack. Doing a good pace. I was surprised he didn’t stop maybe for a few seconds to chat - this was the only shade on the trail and a good place for a breather. I described him to the rangers as a “man on a mission” - he looked like he was on a serious hike and going for it. I read later that he was keen to get to the Palms to get pictures of the sheep. Maybe that was it.
The news stories that say “he was last seen at 9am by his wife” are incorrect. Other reporting that says “he was last seen at 9am” is more accurate - that’s about when I saw him. To get where he was on the trail he probably left the trailhead 30 to 40 minutes before then - say 8.30. The drive in from 29 Palms might have been anything from 10 minutes to half an hour depending on where he was staying.
The hike is relatively short - an hour out and an hour back. There’s a climb of about 300 ft to a ridge then a descent of about the same amount to the palms. But the heat makes it a serious hike. When I started at 7.30 it was low 80’s. When I got back at around 9.30, maybe a bit later, it was high 90’s.
There’s no shade on the trail other than the boulder I mentioned, and that’s only early, before the sun gets higher. The terrain is open rock, scrub and a few cacti. The heat bounces back at you. I drank 2 1/2 litres of water on the hike. The park info says take at least a litre for each hour you’re out and that’s about right. The trail is on the northern edge of the park and at a lower altitude than the other hikes in the park. It’s a lot hotter than those trails.
Searching would not have been easy in that heat either, both for people and the dogs. They did what they could and must have pushed themselves very hard. Brave people. Giving their time and all their energy for a stranger they’d never met - a foreigner even. We could do with more of that.
My heart goes out to his friends and family. The event shook me up but that’s nothing compared to what they are going through.
My condolences.
j/k (maybe)