Hiker Falls to His Death in Hawaii While Trying to Retrieve Hat

A hiker in Hawaii plunged 400 feet to his death after trying to retrieve a hat that had blown off with a gust of wind.

Nathan Stowell, 24, was hiking along Mount Olomana's third peak on the morning of Sunday, April 1, when a strong gust of wind reportedly blew off a friend's hat. Stowell, who has been described as having an adventurous spirit, attempted to retrieve the hat despite warnings from his friends. At some point in his attempt, Stowell lost his footing and fell about 400 feet down from the path. Officials from the Honolulu Fire Department discovered Stowell about two hours later unconscious and without a pulse.

"Where he was found, it was a heavy canopy, meaning it was an area where there are lots of trees, and it was a pretty steep fall that he suffered," Battalion Chief Damien Kahaulelio told Kohn 2 News. "Air One conducted an aerial search and we inserted a rescue person who found the patient unconscious, not breathing, and no pulse."

The Honolulu medical examiner determined that Stowell, who moved from Arizona to Hawaii in 2018, died from multiple injuries to his head and torso, and his death has been deemed an accident, the news station reported.

"I thought it was a sick April Fools' joke to be honest with you. My baby brother is 24 years old and he's dead," Stowell's sister, Lexis Sweeney, told Hawaii News Now. "My brother died doing what he loved but it was literally a horrific accident."

Following his death, a GoFundMe page was created to raise money for Stowell's mother and two sisters to travel to the island for a memorial ceremony.

Olomana, the trail that Stowell had been hiking at the time of the fall, is known as one of Oahu's most difficult hikes, with three other deaths occurring on the trail since 2011.

In 2015, Honolulu firefighter Mitch Kai died after tumbling 50 feet between the second and third peaks. In 2015, a visitor from Florida died after falling 200 feet between the first and second peaks. Ryan Suenag died after a 150-foot fall between the second and third peaks in 2011.