Three hikers are dead on Mt. Baldy, and the details are a little confusing. Yesterday, late in the morning, officials took a 9-1-1 call from a hiker who said his friend had fallen from the Devil’s Backbone trail, a popular and difficult hiking trail on California’s Mt. Baldy. A 19-year-old man fell about 500 feet, his friend said, and then high winds thwarted efforts to reach the man.
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Eventually, a helicopter was able to lower a search-and-rescue officer to the location where the hiker had fallen. The hiker was deceased, but here’s where things get confusing. Local KTLA 5 News reports that there were two other dead hikers in the same area, likely unrelated to the fallen hiker and his friend who had called 9-1-1.
[RELATED: Officials Recover Body of Young Hiker Who Died on Mt. Whitney]
It’s a sad and strange situation, proving just how risky it can be to hike trails on exposed ridge lines at high elevations. There is no additional information available about the victims at this time.
See KTLA 5 News’ most recent coverage of the three hikers found dead on Mt. Baldy :
This situation is evolving, and details may change.
Header stock image of Mt. Baldy by Matthew Micah Wright/Getty Images
