Lukas McClish, missing June 11, 2024, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Santa Cruz Mountains, California. Found June 21, 2024.

Lukas McClish, 34, was found alive and well after he spent ten days wandering lost in the Big Basin Redwoods State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California.

On Tuesday, June 11, 2024, Lukas headed out for only a three-hour hike from his hometown of Boulder Creek, carrying a minimum of supplies. He managed to get lost and didn't recognize landmarks wiped out by forest fires. Lukas, an experienced hiker who does landscaping in forests razed by wildfires, said he was astounded that he got lost—and so quickly.

What is Big Basin Redwoods State Park?

Big Basin Redwoods State Park is located in Santa Cruz County, about 22 miles (36 km) northwest of Santa Cruz. It is California's oldest State Park, established in 1902. Its headquarters was built in 1936 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps using local redwood logs and stone. The park is registered with the National Register of Historic Places and receives more than 1 million visitors annually from around the world.

Its original 3,800 acres have been increased over the years to over 18,000 acres and it is home to the largest continuous stand of ancient coast redwoods south of San Francisco. The park has over 81 miles (130 km) of trails.

Big Basin gave rise to the movement to preserve coastal redwoods, the world's tallest trees, from logging a century ago. Many view its creation as a catalyst for California’s park system. Some redwoods in Big Basin are more than 300 feet tall and nearly 2,000 years old.

The CZU Lightning Complex fires, which started on August 16, 2020, burned over 97% of Big Basin, 86,509 acres, and destroyed nearly every structure in the area. On August 20, the park's historic headquarters building, lodge, ranger office, nature museum, store, maintenance shop, multiple park residences, and campground restrooms were completely burnt. After actively burning for 37 days, the fires were contained on September 22 after a massive effort by California firefighters.

It was the first major wildfire in Big Basin in over 100 years, the last one being in 1904. While some of the trees fell during and after the fires, the majority of the ancient redwoods remained standing. However, due to the intensity of the fires and drought in the following years, only 24% of the forest in the Big Basin is still alive and regrowing, and the old-growth forest may never fully recover.

While Redwood tree bark is heavily fire-resistant, intense firestorms can fell or severely harm their cambium, a layer of material under the bark, which transports water and nutrients.

One year after the fire, the clean-up and rebuilding process began, and the park remained closed to the public until July 22, 2022, when it partially reopened eight hiking trails for day use.

Lukas McClish reported missing

The area in which Lukas was hiking had been razed in the CZU Lightning Complex fire of 2020, and he explained that it looked completely different from the other terrain. He said, “That's one thing I didn't take into consideration—when the fire comes through like that and decimates it, it turns into the desert, and you're unable to find your bearings.” The normal markers to help with the direction of travel, such as deer trails or hiking paths, were gone.

When he failed to arrive at a Father's Day dinner, Lukas’s family declared him missing on Sunday, June 16, 2024, five days after his hike started. Search and rescue teams sprang into operation, and nearly 300 people and emergency personnel from several agencies were involved.

Lukas said he kept dreaming about his next meal as he was forced to survive on wild berries, “I wanted a burrito or a taco bowl. That's what I thought about every day when I, after the first five days when I started to kind of realize that I might be in over my head”.

He said he initially considered getting lost in the park a chance to test his survival skills, but that turned to reality after he continued to wander through the burnt earth of the Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

He said, “I'm an avid backpacker, so for me to go out for a night or two is not out of the norm.”

On that first cold night, though, Lukas tried to build himself a fire, but the brush he used was wet. He then hiked across a canyon for better shelter and, the next day, set out to find a stream he thought would be nearby.

“So I just kind of hiked. Each day I go up a canyon, down a canyon, to the next waterfall, drank water out of my boot. I felt comfortable every time I was out there. I wasn't worried about it. I had a mountain lion that was following me, but it was cool. It kept its distance. I think it was just somebody watching over me.”

But by day five, Lukas started to worry: “I knew if I kept following the sun, I'd eventually get to the ocean, but I didn't know how far from the ocean I was”.

He drank water from a creek out of his walking boot, ate wild berries, and slept on a wet bed of leaves as he cried out for help.

Things got worse on day eight when he was starting to become hypothermic due to the cold nights and damp conditions and slipped while going over a rock face.

“Help, help, I'm over here”, he remembers screaming over and over during days eight and nine, along with “Is anybody out there?”

The search

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office deployed drones, the Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit, the Boulder Creek Fire Department and CA State Parks assisted in the search.

McClish found

Lukas was finally found at around 7.30 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2024, when two park rangers were making their way up a hill and heard his cries for help. Witnesses had first heard his cries at around 3 pm. and reported them to the authorities.

The Boulder Creek Fire Department deployed a drone and spotted him, while a dog tracked him down. Police located him and took him out of the wilderness, and he was reunited with his family.

McClish was finally rescued after quite an ordeal out in the wilderness. He had no major injuries but looked very dishevelled as evidenced by the various photos. Remarkably, he only needed one night in the hospital before he could return home to his family, who had been waiting for him at the forest's edge when he was found.

Lukas said, "I'm tired and a little sore; I lost my voice. I left with just a pair of pants, hiking shoes, and a hat. I had a flashlight and folding scissors, like a Leatherman tool. And that was about it.”

"I just make sure I drank a gallon of water every day, but then after, getting close to the end of it, my body needed food and some kind of sustenance”

He said he and his family won't be hitting the trails anytime soon. "I did enough hiking for probably the whole rest of the year.”

Lukas was a fortunate guy to escape the California wilderness with minor injuries, some weight loss and with need of deep clean shower!

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Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Basin_Redwoods_State_Park

https://www.foxnews.com/us/massive-california-wildfire-destroys-big-basin-state-park-historic-buildings

https://abc7.com/post/missing-hiker-lukas-mcclish-found-alive-after-spending/14989475/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13563043/Hiker-Lukas-McClishs-family-say-theyre-thankful-blessed-relieved-survived-10-days-lost-California-mountains-drinking-water-boot-eating-berries.html