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.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has been linked to a second group chat about sensitive military operations, which he reportedly shared with his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
The messages sent via the Signal messaging app are again understood to have contained details of an attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in March.
The second chat group, initially reported by The New York Times, included about a dozen people. It revealed details of the schedule of the airstrikes, according to the Reuters news agency.
Two sources with knowledge of the matter told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News there were 13 people in the second chat group, and Mr Hegseth divulged the information despite an aide warning him about using an unsecure communications system.
Mr Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, has attended sensitive meetings with foreign military counterparts, while his brother was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser.
Military details from the first chat group were revealed by a journalist from The Atlantic magazine who was accidentally added to the Signal app by national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Mr Hegseth then shared sensitive information with cabinet officials about last month’s airstrike on targets in Yemen, which was later leaked.
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Mike Waltz (left) and Pete Hegseth (right) have used Signal to discuss sensitive government matters. Pic: AP
‘A non-story,’ says White House
But the White House has consistently defended Mr Hegseth.
Donald Trump dismissed the original leak as “something that can happen”.
Responding to the latest chat group, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said: “No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they can’t change the fact that no classified information was shared.
“Recently-fired ‘leakers’ are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the President’s agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable.”
The “leakers” referred to in the White House statement are four senior officials who were ousted from the Pentagon last week as part of an internal leak investigation.
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‘Hegseth put lives at risk’
The New York Times reported that the second chat – named “Defence | Team Huddle” – was created on Mr Hegseth’s private phone.
It detailed the same warplane launch times as the first chat.
Several former and current officials have said sharing those operational details before a strike would have certainly been classified, and their release could have put pilots in danger.
Democratic politicians have repeatedly called for Mr Hegseth to step down.
“We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a post on X.
“But [Donald] Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be fired.”
The latest claims about Mr Hegseth emerged as Yemen’s Houthi rebels reported another wave of US airstrikes on Sunday, including on the capital Sanaa.
The Houthis said at least 12 people had been killed, with 30 more injured.
The US says its bombing campaign is in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.
DHL Express is suspending some shipments to the US as Donald Trump’s new tariff regime takes effect.
From 21 April, shipments worth more than $800 (£603) to US consumers from “any origin” will be temporarily suspended.
New rules that came into effect at the start of April made such shipments subject to increased customs checks.
“This change has caused a surge in formal customs clearances, which we are handling around the clock,” said the parcel delivery service.
Shipments going from business to business worth more than $800 aren’t affected by the suspension, but DHL warned they may also face delays.
Shipments under $800 to either businesses or consumers are not impacted, but one British cycle manufacturer suggested its US customers may need to split orders over $800 into “smaller shipments” to avoid the red tape.
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From May, shipments from China and Hong Kong that are worth less than $800 “will be subject to all applicable duties”, according to the White House.
“President Trump is targeting deceptive shipping practices by Chinese-based shippers, many of whom hide illicit substances, including synthetic opioids, in low-value packages,” it said in a statement.
Until now, deliveries worth less than $800 didn’t incur any duties, which allowed low-cost companies Chinese like Shein and Temu to make inroads in the US.
Both have warned their prices will now rise because of the rule changes, starting on 25 April.
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