By
George Shirk - Mammoth Times Senior Writer
For a one day-hiker in the Minaret Wilderness, an ordinary day-hike on Monday turned into a day-night sojurn, finishing with a helicopter ride.
The hiker, a 22-year-old man who was separated from his friends near Devils Postpile National Monument, spent Monday night in the Minaret Wilderness before being picked up by helicopter Tuesday morning with help from the Mono County Search and Rescue team.
The hiker’s identity and home town were not known as of Tuesday afternoon. He was unhurt, said Pete DeGeorge of the sheriff’s department.
The fiery car accident on U.S. 395 that resulted in the deaths of two teenage cross country runners and a cheerleading coach from Southern California on Aug. 9 was at least partly due to driver error, according to a California Highway Patrol report.
Seventeen-year-old Natalie Nield was driving a Ford SUV headed south a few miles south of Bishop at the time of the accident. The vehicle was registered to Gabrielle Nield.
