Classic California Hike Turns Fatal

A weekend outing on one of Southern California's classic hikes ended in tragedy. A man died Saturday after falling from a fixed-rope section of the Mount Wilson Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains, according to the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team. Dispatchers were alerted early Saturday afternoon to the fall on the steep, 6-mile trail that runs from Sierra Madre to the Mount Wilson summit. Volunteers with the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team met a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department helicopter on scene before a team was able to reach the hiker some 30 feet below the trail, per SFGate.

Search and Rescue said the fall occurred in an area where anchored ropes are installed to help hikers through more technical terrain and that the man was found dead. It's unclear if he died from injuries sustained during the fall or from a medical event, per the Los Angeles Times, which reports he was discovered in a ravine. The body of the man, who has not been publicly identified, was recovered Saturday evening while the trail was closed. The trail has since reopened, per KTLA. "The Team extends our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased man," Search and Rescue said in a statement.