Hiker found dead on California trail was ‘doing his favorite thing,’ wife says
A woman in California said her husband found dead after going for a hike was “in his favorite place,” news outlets reported.
On July 31, a man was reported missing by his family after he didn’t return from a hike on El Cajon Mountain in San Diego, according to a news release by the sheriff’s office.
The man, later identified as Adam Shmidt, 34, was a high school teacher who loved to go hiking as it made him feel “most at home,” his wife, Becca Fink, told NBC 7 San Diego. The two met in 2010 according to an obituary page
Shmidt, an experienced hiker, had planned to hike to the top of the mountain and return home afterwards, KGTV reported.
After searching throughout the night, police found Shmidt dead near a hiking trail, the news release said.
“He went to the place where he felt most connected to himself and nature,” his wife told FOX 5. “Adam died doing his favorite thing in his favorite place.”
The man described by his sister-in-law as “intelligent, so funny” and an “incredibly driven and loving human with a zest for life,” loved his wife “fiercely,” according to an Aug. 3 Facebook post.
Although police said a medical examiner will determine Shmidt’s exact cause of death, San Diego Sheriff’s office Lt. Chris Katra said the man’s body had experienced trauma “consistent with a fall,” NBC 7 San Diego reported.
“The amount of lives you made infinitely better in the short time you were on this Earth is a testament to what a beautiful human being is supposed to be,” Shmidt’s friend and fellow teacher said on his obiturary page. “One of the most realized, healed, healthy, full of light humans.”
El Cajon Mountain is considered as “the hardest hike in San Diego (County),” according to the Hiking Guy website. It’s a 12-mile hike to the 3,648-foot summit.
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