Hatfield
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I believe upthread someone provided average speeds for a trail. 2 mph for someone somewhat fit. 1.5 mph for average. This varies substantially in different conditions, e.g. a lot of elevation gain, high altitude, heat, etc.
With that said, so much also depends on equipment, e.g. wearing appropriate hiking boots (that trail would be foolish without), carrying water, snacks, etc.
Thank you.
I found a good map of "49 Palms Oasis trail" and it makes more sense now on the timeline because it does say this:
"To reach the awesome oasis, you’ll hike 3 miles round trip with 350 feet of elevation gain,"
So if he only planned for a 3 mile round trip then he probably figured he would be back in 3 hours max. At 1.0 MPH walking 3 hours would be about right to contact wife around 12PM.
I am more inclined now to think he got lost and something bad happened. The trails seem very confusing because in the desert he may have went off course because distances are very deceiving. Many hikers will see something in the distance and head right for it and not realize it is much farther than they realize. I think he veered off the trail as it got hot and tried to get shelter and maybe got heat stroke. Probably did not bring near enough water or realize how darn hot it gets in desert.
Fortynine Palms Oasis in Joshua Tree National Park
We know he was at that 49 Palms Oasis Trail because of this:
"Park rangers eventually found Miller's vehicle at the 49 Palms Oasis trailhead"
Lost Palms Oasis
But this sort of note in the 1st link above makes me think he could have gotten easily lost:
"The trail has a separate access road into the national park with no ranger station. This is an added bonus for anyone passing through the high desert who would like to go on a great hike in Joshua Tree National Park without paying an entrance fee."