Hiker Dies at Bridge to Nowhere
A young mother was swept away and killed by a fast-moving river on the Bridge to Nowhere trail in California's San Gabriel Mountains after heavy rainfall swelled the river. Emergency personnel are urging hikers to exercise extreme caution, especially near water crossings in spring when conditions can change rapidly.
The hiker was identified as 33-year-old Jaqueline Aguilar De Lao. She was at the second river crossing of the popular trail on Sunday morning when she was swept away by the fast-moving San Gabriel River. In a tragic irony, members of the San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team were at the trailhead speaking with hikers about river safety when a runner alerted them to the accident. The team immediately began a search but the effort shifted to a recovery operation after her body was located. This is not the first fatality of its kind on the trail; in March 2024, a 59-year-old woman was also swept away and died in the swollen river near the Heaton Flats trailhead. Authorities have repeatedly warned that the multiple water crossings on the trail can become treacherous and impassable after rainfall. The trail itself had only reopened last summer after being closed for nearly a year due to the 56,000-acre Bridge Fire in 2024. That wildfire had caused severe burn damage, increasing the risk of flooding and debris flows in the watershed. The "Bridge to Nowhere" is an arch bridge built in 1936 as part of a planned road to connect the San Gabriel Valley to Wrightwood. The road project was abandoned after a massive flood in 1938 washed away the unfinished roadway, leaving the bridge isolated in what is now the Sheep Mountain Wilderness.
