Helicopter used to rescue man from Kern River
Stranded on a rock in the middle of rapids. Not a good situation to get yourself into!
On Tuesday (July 17) at approximately 9:45am, the aerial search team located personal items including a backpack, empty water bottles and printed information referencing hiking Panamint Butte, which is about one mile east of the vehicle on the slopes of Panamint Butte. Shortly after noon, the aerial search team located more personal items about 2000 feet southwest of the backpack. While circling those items, they also located the missing hiker’s body in a wash about 500 feet southeast of the items.
Mr. Rhoad’s backpack contained a route description to Panamint Butte, a rugged off-trail route involving about 4,000 feet of elevation gain over loose rocks without a trail or designated route. NPS rangers do not recommend hiking at low elevations in Death Valley National Park during the summer due to excessive heat.
The hike starts at approximately 5,475 feet in elevation at the parking lot, includes 14 rappels and ends near Bad Water at around 200 feet below sea level. The group started their day in the parking lot around 7:15 a.m. on Thursday, April 13. They had covered approximately 3,500 feet in elevation and 4 ½ miles of linear distance when around 3:30 p.m. during the fourth rappel; Captain Thornton Brown lost control of a rappel and suffered an approximate 40-foot fall. He was the first of the three to rappel down.
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