08/03/2021
“MISSING FEMALE HIKER IN IRON MOUNTAIN”
Last February 13, 2021, a female (Filipina) hiker together with some other friends attempted to hike Iron Mountain in San Gabriel Mountains, ANF. This mountain is becoming popular, thanks to many who tried to collect photos for their FB or Instagram pages.
It is standing at 8,007 ft and has a reputation of being the most difficult hike in that range. Although the view on the way up is not actually scenic, the panorama at the summit is incomparable. From there one could glance at Mt Baldy from a different perspective. That is where you can view many prominent peaks around the East section of the San Gabriel National Monument such as Mt. Baden Powell, Dawson Peak, Pine Mountain, West Baldy, Mt Wilson and its neighboring peaks even a view of the Santa Catalina Island on a clear day.
It was reported that in February 13, 2021, the female hiker by the name of Maria Loida Tice has gone missing. I was able to asked some hikers this past weekend up in the summit what could have had happened to Loida. Some say she was lagging behind from the group. Some reported she was seen 500 ft below the summit. It was foggy and windy that afternoon and if she ever summited, she might ran out of daylight and hiking by herself in the dark with crazy wind and low to zero visibility. These are not accurate details but merely based on my interviews from few hikers I met last Saturday. Last week the Search and Retrieval operations were ordered to stop. If there will be no one to continue finding her, there will be no closure to this.
I am hoping and praying that the search will pursue and that one day she will be found.
