Hiker Richard Mulligan did a lot of things right when he set off for a hike in Death Valley National Park on August 13, but when he awoke at the bottom of a scree slope 14 hours later, he realized that even gear and experience is no match for brutal desert conditions.
Writing on Facebook yesterday in what he describes as "cautionary tale" to others, Mulligan says he left the Panamint Butte trailhead at 4 a.m. last Tuesday. The temperatures in the area were due to climb to 116 degrees that day, and official advice is that if you do choose to hike in extreme heat, you should leave early.
