Joel Curtis Thomazin, 31, left on a solo hiking and fishing trip in Yosemite National Park on September 6, 2021, intending to go from Hetch Hetchy to Lake Eleanor and return on September 9. He was last confirmed seen by a park ranger around 5:00 p.m. that day as he crossed above O'Shaughnesy Dam.
Thomazin was described as well equipped: a large tan Kelty backpack, green sleeping bag, dark blue/green hammock, bright red inflatable kayak, a red-and-black CamelBak-style day pack, a black-and-yellow collapsible sink, a U.S. Army steel cup from 1918, a floppy cloth hat, and tan or blue zip-off pants. A search covering roughly 1,000 square miles — on foot, by air, and by boat — also considered routes to Cherry Lake and the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River, but no trace of him or his gear was found. The formal search ended in early November 2021 and his family held a memorial service in December 2021, presuming he was lost or injured in the backcountry.
Does anyone have information about his planned route, sightings in the Hetch Hetchy–Lake Eleanor corridor, or knowledge of his equipment that could shed light on what happened?