James MacDonald Oregon solo hiker found dead after failing to return from solo one day hike at Mount Hood National Forest, leaving behind wife and four kids. But what went wrong?
A father of four who went hiking solo along Oregon’s Mount Hood National Forest only to fail to return later that day was found dead on Friday.
James MacDonald, a 33 year old married father of four, including one-year-old twins and two boys aged four and six had set out on Wednesday morning on what was supposed to be a day hike.
At the time, the father of four and radiologist at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) (who was in the final stretch of his residency) had told his wife, Amanda that he’d return to their Ridgefield home by 5:30 that evening.
What went wrong?
Except he never made the return trek.
‘He’d called her at 10:30 in the morning, said ‘I’m here, I don’t want to talk long because I want to conserve my battery but it’s beautiful, see you tonight,’ and never came home,’ MacDonald’s father in law, James Seeley said according to KGW.
It wasn’t until Friday morning that the missing husband and dad was found following a search being initiated when his family reported him missing.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a body found in the Mount Hood National Forest was that of James MacDonald.
To date it remained unclear what went wrong and what preempted the experienced hiker from making the trek back home.
Authorities have not yet released a cause of death, but said they do not believe the death was suspicious. MacDonald’s family said he was an experienced hiker, but they believe he got lost and was not prepared to be outside in the elements overnight.
‘One thing she has said is ‘Dad, I feel like I am having a bad dream, and I’ll wake up and I won’t be in this dream.’ But, she’s like ‘I know it’s not a bad dream, I know it’s my new reality,’’ Seeley said of his daughter, married to the deceased solo hiker.
‘His first priority was his family,’ said Ben Seeley, MacDonald’s brother-in-law.
Unpredictable nature of hiking
Of note, it had been snowing heavily on Mt. Hood with temperatures hovering in the low 20s.
MacDonald went hiking a lot, often as a solo hiker on shorter treks where he would take beautiful photos, Seeley said — but he also sometimes took his kids along.
‘They called it their adventures. Take the boys out, go on hikes, spend time with them, and they loved it,’ stated father in law, James Seeley.
The tragedy has served for the family to remind even the most experienced hikers of the unpredictable nature of hiking, especially alone and in an area without cellphone reception and in dense woods in frigid weather, difficult to navigate.
‘Be careful and avoid hiking alone. I mean, there’s so many unpredictabilities and things that you don’t expect to come up, so I think, just being careful and plan ahead,’ said Ben Seeley. ‘Prepare for the unexpected because you just never know, you never know, and here we are.’
The family has created a GoFundMe campaign to try and help Amanda and the couple’s four children adjust to their new life.
‘This is something we can do right now that’s tangible, that will help us get the word out and just help her adjust to a reality that is so different than her reality was on Wednesday,’ said James Seeley.
As of Tuesday night, the fundraiser had raised $25,943 of a $100K goal. An initial fundraiser started last week had also brought in $116,814 of a $120K goal.
The tragedy comes just weeks after James and wife Amanda having celebrated their 9th wedding anniversary.
