Heart-warming pictures of hiker reuniting with family after being lost in California woods for 10 days
A hiker who lost more than 13kg after disappearing in California’s woods had to have rocks removed from his back.
Pictures have emerged of the moment a shirtless Lukas McClish, 34, was reunited with his family after being lost for 10 days in Big Basin Redwood State Park.
Mr McClish was last seen on 11 June but was only reported missing on 16 June, when he failed to show up for a Father’s Day dinner, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.
He was found on Friday after people reported hearing someone scream and drones were deployed to track him down.
The hiker reuniting with his loved ones. Pic: SLV Steve
Mr McClish, an experienced hiker, told the New York Times (NYT) he drank water from creeks and ate wild berries in order to survive – a “diet” which saw him lose 13.6kg (30lbs).
“I was kind of doing the water-diet thing,” said Mr McClish. “If you drink a gallon and a half of water every day, you don’t need food until you run out of carbs.”
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Mr McClish got lost on 11 June. Pic: SLV Steve
Mr McClish described how he had very little on him when he embarked on what he thought would only be a three-hour hike before work.
“I left with just a pair of pants, and my pair of hiking shoes, and a hat. I had a flashlight, and a pair of folding scissors, like a Leatherman tool. And that was about it,” he told ABC7.
But he ended up getting lost as landmarks along the track had been eroded by fires.
Emergency services deployed drones to the area after screaming was heard. Pic: SLV Steve
The sheriff’s office said it had received multiple reports of witnesses hearing someone yelling for help.
State Parks rangers were the first to discover him and fire crews helped bring him to safety on Friday.
During the first few days of his ordeal, Mr McClish tried to see his experience as an opportunity to spend time with himself and test his survival skills.
“So, I kind of just hiked,” he said. “Each day, I go up a canyon, down a canyon to the next waterfall, sit down by the waterfall, drink water out of my boot.”
But by day five, he started to look at ways of getting back home.
“I knew if I kept following the sun I’d get to the ocean eventually, but I didn’t know how far from the ocean I was,” he said.
By day eight, Mr McClish was repeatedly shouting in the hope of getting someone’s attention as he suffered from hypothermia and had fallen while walking over a rock face.
Once rescued, Mr McClish was taken to hospital for a night, where he had rocks removed from his back, the NYT quoted him as saying.
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“I did enough hiking for probably the whole rest of the year,” he said.
“Me too,” his dad said.
“We’ve all hiked a lot,” his mother added.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
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The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
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The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
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