can't sleep so gonna tell a missing hiker story that happened nearby recently that is heartbreaking and totally preventable.

It had been storming all week. Rain in the foothills but snow at the peaks. During a lull, the clouds part and you could see the mountaintops shining with snow.

A college student decides to go hiking on a popular trail by herself. Maybe she's never seen snow. Maybe she wants some idyllic Instagram winter shot. Maybe she's just all about capital A adventure. Who knows.

She hits the trailhead at 2 in the afternoon. She tells her friends and boyfriend where she's going. She posts videos and photos of snow white scenes. Those are the last things she ever posts.

I know many of you already see the horror story unfolding. When she isn't seen or heard from by her friends in the evening, they call to report her missing. Search and Rescue are on it. They know their window to get her out safely is small.

As the sun falls, the storm rolls back in. It becomes impossible for SAR to continue looking for her in the weather conditions.

There's no happy ending to this. When they resume in daylight, they find her beanie first, then they find her body.

I hate reading stories like this. Such a preventable and senseless loss of life. Alone, inexperienced, underdressed, underprepared, starting a winter hike at 2PM, with heavy storms forecasted for a week straight. And the worst part is that no one in her social circle told her to not to go. Or maybe they did and she didn't listen. So senseless and sad.

It reminds me that there are things that we think are common sense, but they are not common sense for someone else. She died because of her ignorance of hiking in the wintery outdoors which seem plainly obvious to us but in another case, someone might die because they didn't know how to get mental health help for alcoholism.