Hiker Who Died on Mt. San Jacinto Is Identified
Authorities on Tuesday identified a hiker found dead on Mt. San Jacinto as James Simons, 36, of Morongo Valley in San Bernardino County.
Simons, reportedly an experienced hiker, had set out alone Sunday on a steep side trail near the aerial tramway. He called a friend about 8 p.m. to say he was encountering an icy section and would call her back in an hour, said Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy John Kaiser. When he did not phone, she called 911.
Members of the Riverside County Mountain Rescue Unit responded but was delayed by weather and extremely icy conditions. Monday morning, with the aid of a helicopter, the rescue unit found Simons’ body deep in a ravine, 7,800 feet up the mountain.
Simons is the sixth mountain hiker, none of them beginners, to perish in less than a month in Southern California. Authorities continue to urge people not to hike alone, and to be trained in and use alpine mountaineering equipment in snowy and icy areas.
Eugene Kumm, 25, of Seal Beach is the only hiker still missing. Kumm disappeared on Mt. San Gorgonio more than a week ago.
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