Exactly! But I’m asking why, instead of hiking south along the river to SL, they didn’t follow the river in the opposite direction for about the same distance and they would arrive at HW140. I can’t upload graphics on here for some reason. From there they could have used there cell phone to ring for assistance and/or a ride to collect their vehicle from where they’d left it.
This does seem to be the most safe reaction to finding themselves down at the SF Merced in a heat situation where climbing back up (via either SL or HC trails) to their parked truck would be risky due to heat, sun exposure, and exertion.
Continuing on the HC trail northward makes sense for multiple reasons:
1: they would be travelling downhill instead of uphill
2: the river would remain nearby for instant cooling needs
3: once past Hite Cove itself, they would be more and more likely to encounter others who could call for help if needed
4: their own phone might have service, whereas it was 100% known "no service" along the trails below their truck (I'm not certain of this but suspect it)
5: as you say, even if they encounter no one else frolicking along the base of the South Fork, once they reached highway 140 they could certainly call for help/find someone to give them a ride back to their vehicle.
So, why didn't they do this? I have to agree with whoever posted how remarkable it is that in a month or more of us desperately seeking some logic from this case, no one seems to have thought of this before.
I can think of only two scenarios that make sense to me as to why they didn't take that option.
One, if they were sufficiently uninformed as to the topography and didn't actually realize that following the river downstream would put them at "civilization" in just a few miles (this seems less likely to me, since as hikers you'd think they would grasp the bigger topographical picture of where they were)
Two is if they simply didn't realize they were in such dire straits. They did not think the hike back up would be pushing the limits of life-and-death. (I think this more likely, though I can't understand why they thought this -- as I said earlier, the only way I think it would be safe to attempt to climb SL in that weather is to do it in the 4-6am range)
OK, I just thought of a third option. What if they never made it to the river? What if -- 100% speculation here -- what if they made it partway down the HC trail/OHV road, realized it was too hot to hike, and turned around, but instead of following the road/trail back the way they came, they thought they could cut straight across toward the truck? And ended up hiking cross country a ways and popped out onto the SL trail, either where they were found or a bit lower so they then had to climb?
LE knows, of course, whether their tracks went all the way down HC or not, and whether their tracks were seen along the river and heading up SL trail from the bottom. But we don't know until they tell us.
MOO
