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Max LeNail, a 21-year-old avid hiker and nature lover, frequented Mission Trails Regional Park in San Diego. He drowned in January when a sudden storm swept him into the river.
“He was crossing a river at the end of his hike, just five minutes from the parking lot, when he got stuck in a flash flood and hail storm,” said Ben LeNail about his son.
To deal with their grief the LeNail family has spearheaded an initiative to build a bridge over the rocky spot where their son died in hopes of preventing other deaths.
“It’s a very dangerous spot,” LeNail said. “There are many weeks during the year where it is basically a death trap.”
San Diego councilmember pledges support for Bridge for Max at Mission Trails 10news.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 10news.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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On January 30, as I sat in the back seat of a car stuck in ski traffic, I tapped on an Instagram story from a college friend. It was a missing poster for my friend Max.
Missing? I scrolled frantically for more information; a dozen of my friends had shared the same poster. Max had gone for a trail run in San Diego the day before, I learned, and he hadn’t come home.
As
Backpacker’s skills and survival editor
, I’ve seen far too many tragic stories that start the same way, but I’ve also seen plenty end happily. Max was an athletic, capable outdoorsman. We’d rock climbed together often in college. He was the strongest climber I knew (and the most supportive partner), incredibly fit, and very, very smart.