CA CA - Monica Reza, 60, hiker, Mount Waterman, Los Angeles National Forest, 22 Jun 2025

[SideQuestHiker]

There is a section in that article that refers to 2 or 3 trails not by name.
Can anyone confirm what the names of these trails are? Probably obvious for those of you who have hiked these, but could you help an armchair hiker out?

I have 3 questions -
1 - I think the trail that "includes two primary access points" must be "Mt Waterman via Upper West Ridge". Is that right?
2 - Which trail, instead, would be the "more hazardous southern route"?
3 - Which trail would be the "another trail" accessible only via offtrail/brush/wilderness trekking?

Bolding by me.

"the trail includes two primary access points: a northern entrance near a parking lot and highway, where Reza began her hike, and one by the Mt. Waterman Ski-Lifts, which has a road that “off-road vehicles” can drive on. Reza’s beanie, however, was found in the direction of a more hazardous southern route (which was not an entrance or access point), and one would have to go off the trail, through brush and the wilderness, in order to land back on another trail. Based on her familiarity with the area and Reza’s personality, the family member said it is unlikely she would have chosen the more dangerous southern path on purpose."

With regards to the various trails - what LAHiker said.

The article's wording is weird. The paragraph starts out talking about trails, but then switches to talking about bushwhacking down the south slope and Monica not willingly choosing that route. Anyone not familiar with the area could easily wonder if the paragraph was saying the southern trail (i.e. the Three Points Trail) was the hazardous southern route. I think the "more hazardous southern route" is just referring to the bushwhacking path down the southern slope towards the Three Points Trail.

 

[ItalyReader]

Thanks, @LAhiker and @SideQuestHiker, your responses help a lot. I did think the southern route was the Three Point trail but probably just means heading south.
Do we know Monica's familiarity with this trail - had she ever hiked it before?

 

[SideQuestHiker]

That article has some interesting info about what was going on in Monica's life. It contains some clear errors, such as the statement that the summit photo was the last one taken of Monica.

The article contains some other statements that I haven't heard before, which might reflect errors or misunderstandings on the part of the reporters or which might reflect shifting stories by the surviving participants:

As far as I know, previous accounts have said that the other female hiker (sometimes referred to as hiker C) stayed near the bottom of the steep section until the male companion (sometimes referred to as Hiker A) came down and told her Monica was missing.

That said, I think a group of hikers who Hiker A met on the trail, and with whom he did some initial searching, encouraged him to return to the trailhead in case Monica had gone back there some other way. So maybe there's just a little confusion about the exact sequence of those events.

JMO

I received some comments on YouTube and reddit that address this question. I will pass them along here:

YouTube - Monica Reza's Last Hike - Part 1

@rocklobsterchuck6552 - 2 weeks ago ... Also wanted to note that Hiker C did tell responders that they weren't just inertly sitting before the steep part. Allegedly, they were exploring that area but always keeping the main trail in sight.

Reddit -

trailangel4 - 12 hours ago Yeah. Can confirm. That was the story in the early days of the search. Hiker C initially stated that after wandering around at the separation point, they returned to the vehicle.

I think if Hiker C returned to her car changes the timeline of how long Monica continued alone up on the trail while Hiker A went down to inform Hiker C. If he had to go all the way to the parking lot, then Monica could have gotten much further away before Hiker A and the 5 other hikers returned to the ridgeline/corner and resumed searching for Monica. And where exactly did Hiker A meet up with the 5 other hikers?

 

[SideQuestHiker]

Was in a hurry when writing previous post (heading to a work meeting). I meant to include a link to the reddit comments. Here it is:

Monica Reza's Last Hike - Part 2

 

[moonglow123]

Thanks for filming those videos @SideQuestHiker, I started to watch and plan to watch the rest later. It’s helpful to be able to see where she was hiking and visualize it.

Feel bad for her children and loved ones, this continues to be very baffling I’m just baffled by the sequence of events and how she could simply vanish into thin air. Not blaming (and I know hiking companions can get separated) but I do wish her colleague had stayed closer to her, if he’d heard anything we’d at least have a better idea of what may have happened…

 

[LAhiker]

I received some comments on YouTube and reddit that address this question. I will pass them along here:

YouTube - Monica Reza's Last Hike - Part 1


Reddit -


I think if Hiker C returned to her car changes the timeline of how long Monica continued alone up on the trail while Hiker A went down to inform Hiker C. If he had to go all the way to the parking lot, then Monica could have gotten much further away before Hiker A and the 5 other hikers returned to the ridgeline/corner and resumed searching for Monica. And where exactly did Hiker A meet up with the 5 other hikers?

Was in a hurry when writing previous post (heading to a work meeting). I meant to include a link to the reddit comments. Here it is:

Monica Reza's Last Hike - Part 2

I hadn't heard that Hiker C may have gone back to the trailhead. That indeed might have affected the timeline. If that new info is true, I wonder whether Hiker A was communicating with Hiker C and knew she'd gone back, or whether he didn't know until he went closer to where he thought she was waiting.

Like @SideQuestHiker, I'm curious about where and when Hiker A met up with the other five hikers.

JMO

 

[moonglow123]

Just feels like there were so many cascading and coincidental things that had to go wrong here.

A very experienced hiker, experienced with the Angeles forest even if not this particular trail, carrying enough water, happens to get separated from her companion, gets disoriented or lost, her companions can't hear anything because one went ahead of her and one stayed lower on the trail, no one can find her despite many search parties, there's no heat signature, no trace of her except her beanie located in an odd place...

I know people get lost while hiking but it never gets less sad and devastating that there's no way to find them. I'm glad people tried so hard though She seemed like such a wonderful and talented lady.

 

[planet]

I received some comments on YouTube and reddit that address this question. I will pass them along here:

YouTube - Monica Reza's Last Hike - Part 1


Reddit -


I think if Hiker C returned to her car changes the timeline of how long Monica continued alone up on the trail while Hiker A went down to inform Hiker C. If he had to go all the way to the parking lot, then Monica could have gotten much further away before Hiker A and the 5 other hikers returned to the ridgeline/corner and resumed searching for Monica. And where exactly did Hiker A meet up with the 5 other hikers?

I feel encouraged to ask a question that has been on my mind since I learned about this case.

Nowhere have I encountered any testimony from Hiker C. That testimony could add new details or perhaps clarify confusing or contradictory elements in the timeline and in Hiker A's narrative.

I had been really surprised we have not heard from Hiker C. There may be quite good reasons: legal or LE advice, or reluctance. In Canada, where I'm from, silence would be the norm, not the exception. In the US, with a many-tentacled and invasive media machinery, it seems that everybody has a comment on a missings person case and Hiker C would be an obvious person for the media to approach.

Has this puzzled anyone else? What are your thoughts on why we haven't heard from Hiker C?

 

[planet]

Thanks for filming those videos @SideQuestHiker, I started to watch and plan to watch the rest later. It’s helpful to be able to see where she was hiking and visualize it.

Feel bad for her children and loved ones, this continues to be very baffling I’m just baffled by the sequence of events and how she could simply vanish into thin air. Not blaming (and I know hiking companions can get separated) but I do wish her colleague had stayed closer to her, if he’d heard anything we’d at least have a better idea of what may have happened…

I think we do empirical evidence a disservice if we continue to say that she vanished into thin air. It perpetuates this mystery that there is some kind of abduction or a mystical event. People disappear off trail very quickly.

If you dig into the features if mountain terrain, you'll discover that there are so many features that make it easy for somebody to fall or stay hidden.

I asked Claude (AI) to describe these features:

<start quote>

Cliffs and drop-offs
Called technical terrain or exposed faces. From above, especially in vegetation, you often can't see the vertical face until you're at the edge. The slope looks continuous and then simply ends.

Chutes and gullies
Narrow channels that funnel you downward. They feel like a path — clear, directed, easier going — but they steepen, narrow, and often end at a drop or become too steep to reverse. Gravity and the channel walls commit you.

Talus and scree fields
Loose rock that shifts underfoot. Manageable going down slowly, increasingly dangerous at any pace. A twisted ankle or fall here at speed is serious. Also exhausting to climb back up, which discourages reversal.

Brush and chaparral
Dense vegetation that you push through going downhill with momentum but that becomes nearly impassable going back up. It closes behind you. In the San Gabriel or San Jacinto range this is a serious hazard on south-facing slopes particularly.

False benches
A slope that levels out briefly, feels like stable ground, invites you to continue — then drops again more steeply. Each level section feels like progress and encourages continued descent.

Canyon entrapment
Eventually descending ridges feed into canyon systems. Once in a canyon the walls remove options entirely. You're committed to the drainage direction with no lateral escape.

Each feature individually is manageable. Encountered sequentially while already disoriented and descending, they compound rapidly.
<end quote>

The evidence suggests she went offtrail in a southerly or southeasterly/ southwesterly direction. I am guessing the terrain became increasingly difficult. She may have fallen, multiple times. She probably injured herself. She likely experienced dehydration, disorientation, and/or heat exhaustion. She likely died from one or more of these challenges.

I think her belongings will be found at some point.

There are important lessons:
(1) Do not head offtrail unless there's somebody who is watching you.
(2) Wear a whistle (e.g. Fox 40) on a lanyard or clipped to your pack. Why doesn't everybody do this? I truly don't understand. They're cheap and light, and the sound carries better than voice.
(3) If you must head offtrail, mark your exit from the trail with flagging tape and mark your new path with flagging tape. Flagging tape is cheap and easy to carry.
(4) Carry some kind of communication device that isn't a cell phone.
(5) Assume you'll have an emergency and prepare for this.

Dehydration is a huge risk while hiking, but water and shade will not save you if you get lost offtrail or injure yourself.