by RichardK » Wed Jul 03, 2013 7:09 pm
I have read OtherHand's account of his JT53 third anniversary hike to Quail Mountain. I did not know the exact location of the red bandana. Consider this statement in the park's narrative report:
"Two CARDA (California Rescue Dog Association) scent dogs located two 500mL Stater Bros. water bottles at coordinates 057224/375985. The water bottles were full and unopened. They were stashed under a log. See 6/29/10 CARDA team debriefing logs.
A scent dog from the CARDA was utilized to identify the items which were possibly handled by EWASKO. The dog exhibited behavior that strongly suggested EWASKO had handled the red scarf and the two Stater Bros. water bottles."
If you believe the search dog, then the bandana was Bill's. That confirms that his intended target was Quail Mtn. as opposed to any other places in the area. And, if you believe the search dog, Bill stashed water along the trail for his return trip.
I assume that these water bottle coordinates mean 552740E 3759850N NAD27. If my understanding is not correct, please let me know. These coordinates are along the trail about 3.5 miles from the trailhead - a perfect spot to hide water for the return. Why lug water to the top of Quail that you won't need until you are going back?
This stash also means that Bill had no motive to continue to Smith Water Canyon, at least not for water. Maybe he wanted to include it in this hike, but he didn't need the water. If you think the search dog is reliable, Bill had water waiting. Nevertheless, it made good sense to search SWC just because it is the nearest area along the cell phone arc to Quail. It is the most likely place for Bill to be. Unfortunately, Bill is not there unless he crawled under the last unsearched rockpile.
All of this raises many questions: What happened to Bill on Thursday? What was he doing all day Friday and Saturday? Where did he end up and why? A puzzling case.