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> He wasn’t an experienced hiker (wore jeans the first couple weeks, didn’t carry maps/gps/phone, had a tent that was too big, carried a backpack that was over 50 lbs)

Also in the pictures without jeans he was wearing knee support, he might have just had arthritis or something like that.

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The whole thing really reads as mental illness to me. I bet he had it under control for the most part, but things worsened as the trip went on.

One of the biggest reasons for quitting mental illness drugs is due to the feeling that everything is "OK", and they don't need them anymore.

This almost universally false, and as the drugs leave their system, things get progressivelly worse over time. The story fits this timeline really well.

And his mix of gear suggests someone lacking experience. I'm very used to seeing novices on the trails with a wide range of gear, mostly cheap stuff. By the time you get to the top of the highest mountain in this part of the state (class 1, 17mi RT with 1 mile of climb) almost everything you see except shirts is fairly high end.

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