Officials shut down a trail in Sierra National Forest west of Yosemite near where a Northern California family and their dog were found dead. Thisouting was peppered with firsts, but itwas the last time I willquit a hike for the first time. Spam? We've looked at lighting strikes in the area. Something else? Leslie, a woman whom I met for the first timerodewith me over the rugged terrain. Not much to see at the end save for a steep hillside. Thus, the best time to hike this trail is when temperatures are cooler, which you'll find from mid-October through early May. Matthias Gafni and Megan Cassidy are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. They looked like they had sat down in the hot sun and succumbed suddenly, but to what? The Savage-Lundy Trail around where the family was found remained closed Wednesday. Some mining still occurs in the area. The reason . The sky was becoming overcast and we could finally feel a cooling breeze. Tuesday, Aug. 17: 1:53 a.m., the familys car is located down Hites Cove Road north of Jerseydale. Epic: Extreme storms have California near an all-time snowpack record set 40 years ago, Near-record snow and more to come: Heres how long Tahoe ski resorts will stay open, Male seadragon makes history at CA aquarium with arrival of more than 70 newborns, Mountain travel hazardous to impossible as Northern California braces for next storm. Theres a mining community, Briese said of the area, so there could be some [hazards] that we dont know about.. The case . An Adventure Projects staff member will review this and take an appropriate action, but we generally don't reply. Here, the trail offers incredible views of the South Fork Canyon, but it comes at a price, which is a steep slope with hardly any shade. Its like a pastel painting. Mitchell said it is very hot at this time of year and there is . The sheriffs office mounted a search on August 17 and found the couples truck the next day at the Sierra National Forest gate. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. There are a number of northwest-striking quartz veins up to 12 feet thick. There were quite a few mines in the area that were worked back in the day in this area which is located in the Hite Cove Mining District. Savage-Lundy Trail Hiking Trail, Midpines, California Savage-Lundy Trail Difficult 5.0 (1) Areas CA High Sierra Sierra National Forest Plan with onX Backcountry " This is a challenging hike with awesome views of the South Fork of the Merced River gorge in a remote area. Previously, Cassidy worked for the Arizona Republic covering Phoenix police, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and desert-area crime and mayhem. Since then, the Mariposa County Sheriffs Office, which is investigating the deaths along with the California Department of Justice, has ruled out weapons and chemical hazards along the Savage Lundy Trail as contributing factors in the family's mysterious death, according to the Sacramento Bee. Her stories have been recognized with Best of the West and McClatchy Presidents awards, and many top awards from the California News Publishers Association. After two miles of uphill hiking, we reached the truck. Another unique element of this hike is the Knobcone Pine stand that we passed through. Newsom declares emergency, A man was found dead in California river 25 years ago, cops say. The Devil Gulch area, where the family was found, is a depression at the bottom of Hites Cove Road where the south fork of the Merced River runs through the middle. Oaks and cedars grew in abundance. The family's bodies were found on the Savage-Lundy Trail, which is popular in the spring because of its colorful wildflower blooms. John Gerrish, his wife, Ellen Chung, and their one-year-old daughter Miju, were found dead on Monday, August 16, 2021, near Devils Gulch in the Sierra National Forest, along with their pet dog, Oski. Beautiful pictures! 834' Down There are at least 3,000 abandoned mines from Californias 19th-century Gold Rush in the area. Results from those tests also are pending. (A necropsy was also planned for the family's dog at the University of California Davis.). In 2018, he was named SPJ Reporter of the Year in Northern California. Required fields are marked *. Theres no obvious indicators of how it occurred . Your FREE account works with all Adventure Projects sites. Hites Cove Rd - Savage Lundy Trail located Inside the Ferguson Fire (2018) footprint. Washington (GGM) Analysis | September 20, 2021 by author and climate journalist Noreen Wise. . Savage Lundy Trail. The sheriffs office said the entire Savage-Lundy Trail loop, where the family was found dead, is approximately 8.5 miles, with 5 miles of that being a steep southern exposure path with little-to-no trees or shade in the 2018 Ferguson Fire burn scar. Bears, mountain lions and coyotes also live in the area. 8.5 miles - 5 miles of the trail consists of a steep southern exposure path with little to no trees or shade. Heres how the chase played out, People keep dying. Two Madera patients died in the last month, one en route to Fresno, Special delivery: Deputies help Fresno County man needing medicine but trapped at snowed-in home. John Gerrish, Ellen Chung, their daughter Miju, 1, and the family's dog Oski were all discovered on the 3-mile long Savage-Lundy Trail in the forest, in an area known as Devil's Gulch near the community of Hites Cove. His ID is now known, Honeymooning couple abandoned at sea by snorkel tour boat, Hawaii lawsuit says, Watch: Brawl ends Inderkum-Riordan CIF Northern California playoff game in San Francisco, Calls for help fail as man stuck in snow tries to dig vehicle out, CA rescuers say. . Loved the pictures and commentary, as usual. 1,048' Down The family had relocated to Mariposa County during the pandemic in 2020, when Gerrish's job became remote, according to the Merced Sun-Star. Monday, Aug. 23: Additional water samples are collected from water sources along the trail area., Tuesday, Aug. 24: A cell phone is delivered to the FBI for data extraction, awaiting results., Wednesday, Aug. 25: Search warrants issued for possible social media access.. On August 26, the Sheriffs Office says it had ruled out weapons or chemical hazards along the Savage-Lundy Trail, as possible causes of death, but emphasized that, ALL other potential causes of death remain.. Thank you. 20,865 Views. The Savage/lundy trail is 2.6 miles long. The trail begins at about 1,900 feet elevation and meanders upstream 4.5 miles to the former mining camp of Hite Cove. They wished to raise Miju away from a major city and hoped to leave the frantic pace of the San Francisco Bay Area for the calm of nature. They called in a second search team that began winding down the switchbacks that complete the loop back up to the Forest Service gate. Wildflowers flanked the edge of the path, mostly Clarkiafarewell to spring. That main stem flows parallel to Highway 140 in a river canyon, away from nearby Yosemite. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Savage Lundy, though short, is known to be challenging. We were hiking out and back on ahistoric path that gold miners walked in the mid-1800s: the Savage-Lundy trail in the Sierra National Forestdown to Devils Gulch on the South Fork of the Merced River. Autopsies for the family, along with toxicology tests, were scheduled for Thursday in Stanislaus County. Officials describe hazard considered in mysterious deaths, No smoking gun. Algae blooms considered in mysterious death of family near Yosemite, Support my work with a digital subscription, How can we let bygones be bygones? Intense talks highlight California reparations meeting, California braces for next big snowstorm this weekend. 254.57 m Up Most trees are destroyed by fire but fire is directly responsible for this trees future generations to thrive. She was earning her Masters in Counseling Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies after having graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2012. 1170.32 m Down, 182.7 mi Heres why, Driver accused of killing Hoover teen back in Fresno jail. Detectives continue conducting interviews and investigating all potential possible explanations for the death of the Gerrish/Chung family, Mitchell said in a news release issued Thursday afternoon. Fun one for the dogs probably. Rita had ridden to the trailhead with another couple. When will it re-open? Each week the Sierra Hiking Seniors (a group of overone hundred hikers)put out an e-mail announcing two hikes for the following week. It was supposed to be in the 80s that afternoon, but the canyon was already warm and we were both damp with perspiration. They reportedly continued 1.9 miles to the Savage Lundy Trail intersection. It is located on the South Fork of the Merced River, 4.5 miles west-southwest of El Portal, at an elevation of 1578 feet and accessed via Hites Cove Road. 81 Mule Deer 2. The path nestled in the chaparral forest narrowed and each hiker kept their own pace. Rita guided me in turning it around on the narrow roada three point turn or maybe four or five pointsand then we slowly made our way back to civilization. FIND YOUR WAY OUTSIDE is a trademark of AllTrails, LLC. Gerrish had done well for himself and was extremely generous, Jeffe said, always sharing his good fortune with friends. Heres where and when, Mysterious ball seen beside road was 14-foot invasive snake, New York officials say. 42 Pseudacris sierra Latest Observation Be the first to note an animal in this ecoregion Add an Animal See More Birding Report Top Bird Species 1. Believe it or not, Hite Cove was a thriving mining town after the discovery of gold there in 1861by John R. Hite. For almost two decades, Gafni worked for the Bay Area News Group - San Jose Mercury News, East Bay Times and Vallejo Times-Herald - covering corruption, child sexual abuse, criminal justice, aviation and more. We parked up here, not really sure how the short distance left of the road that is supposed to be driveable looked like. All the cones produced since the tree was a sapling, or since the last fire, except those buried in the trunk, are caused to open by the heat and discharge their seeds soon after they are exposed to fire. Savage-Lundy Trail He was born and raised in the Bay Area and graduated from UC Davis. There really wasnt much trail to follow after the forest road. Snow or rain will necessitate a four-wheel drive vehicle, and travel is generally not recommended under these conditions. The bodies of John Gerrish, Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter, Muji, and their dog were all found Aug. 17 near Savage Lundy Trail, in a remote area known as Devils Gulch in the Southfork of the Merced River and Hite Cove Trailhead. They were heading home from athree-night backpacking trip and took the uphill stretch slowly, a two thousand five hundred foot elevation gain. The Savage-Lundy Trail - described by Briese as a steep, established and popular trail - was also closed around where the family was found. There is a known toxic harmful algal bloom on the south fork of the Merced River, a couple miles from where the family was found dead, which is among hazards still being considered in their deaths. The California family mysteriously found dead this week along a hiking trail in the Sierra National Forest was in an area northeast of Mariposa and southwest of Yosemite National Park. Briese said the family was found about 1.5 miles from their vehicle, a gray truck. School Food Waste Is a Big Problem, Lets Fix It, The Climate Crisis and the Catholic Churchs Mind-blowing Land Holdings, Leonardo DiCaprios Loud Voice Celebrates Lulas Win in Brazil that Ousted Bolsonaro, What Everyone Ought to Know about DiCaprio, Kerry and the Global Methane Pledge. ", Become a member of StrangeOutdoors for exclusive content, See the latest Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, Read other strange stories from the Sierra National Forest and Yosemite, The Sandra Johnsen Hughes disappearance in Sierra National Forest, The bizarre disappearance of Stacey Arras from Yosemite National Park, The strange disappearance and death of Jeannie Hesselschwerdt in Yosemite National Park, The puzzling disappearance of Max Schweitzer in Yosemite National Park, https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-gerrish-2748376/?originalSubdomain=uk, https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-mystery-autopsy-fails-to-reveal-cause-of-death-for-family-and-dog-found-dead-on-hiking-trial, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/poison-algae-on-gold-trail-may-have-killed-family-59vmwjf3q, https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/hites-cove-trail?u=m, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hites_Cove,_California, https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Not-one-clue-The-mystery-is-only-deepening-16401921.php, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9914627/Deaths-husband-wife-baby-treated-homicide.html, http://merced-river.org/HitesCoveTrail.html, https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Unknown-hazards-Yosemite-trail-Calif-family-dead-16429088.php, https://www.facebook.com/SierraNF/posts/3133758160228109, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article253864053.html?fbclid=IwAR0_Sv0T7TGRIEuytyuph8M5f50VWWgo4skgRuB3YaHIUKjO6JPK31FMNYU, https://kmph.com/news/local/mariposa-county-sheriff-multiple-causes-of-death-ruled-out-in-death-of-california-family, https://people.com/human-interest/cause-of-death-revealed-for-california-family-who-died-on-hiking-trail/, Tagged: The bizarre deaths of the Gerrish family in Devils Gulch, john gerrish death, ellen chung death, gerrish family deaths in sierra national forest, John Gerrish autopsy, Savage lundy trail deaths, Sign Up now for a one-off fee for exclusive access to many articles, The strange disappearance of Daniel Robinson from Buckeye in Arizona, The strange death of Lucas Renoud at the Hrisson waterfalls in the Jura Mountains, The bizarre deaths of the Gerrish family in Devils Gulch, Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, gerrish family deaths in sierra national forest, The mysterious disappearance and death of Nicola Bulley in Lancashire, The strange disappearance of the YouTube Survivalist Finn Creaney in the Scottish Highlands, The shocking disappearance of Theresa Ann Bier, The disturbing disappearance of Daylenn Pua from Hawaiis Stairway To Heaven walkway, The puzzling disappearance of ex-paratrooper Gilbert Gilman from Olympic National Park, The Dead man who saved Brandon Day and Gina Allen on Mount San Jacinto, The strange disappearance and death of Geoff Hague in the Great Smoky Mountains, The weird disappearance of Garrett Bardsley from Cuberant Lake in Utah, The bizarre death of Cullen Finnerty in the Michigan wilderness, The puzzling disappearance of Barbara Bolick from the Bitterroot Mountains, The strange disappearance of Mike Hearon from the Great Smoky Mountains, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) report June 2021, The bizarre disappearance and death of Adrienne Quintal in Michigan, The strange disappearance of Fern Baird from the Prairie Peak Trail in Idaho, The strange deaths of David Horesay and Frederick Hardisty in the Northwest Territories, The disappearance of Steven Kubacki in the Lake Michigan Triangle, The lucky survival story of Chris Staff in the White Mountains - hallucinations, bugs and hunger, Mysterious UFO phenomena begins to be acknowledged officially by the US Military, The mysterious disappearance of Michael Bryson from the Hobo Campground in Oregon.