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# Hikers stranded overnight on Mount Shasta after planning climb with Gemini
- URL: https://www.metatalks.ai/hikers-stranded-overnight-on-mount-shasta-after-planning-climb-with-gemini/
- Published: 2026-09-08T09:09:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-08T09:08:30.000Z
- Author: Al
- Tags: News, AI safety, #newswire

**The AI's packing list left them far short of the food and water the climb required, the sheriff's office says.**

Three inexperienced hikers were [stranded on the peak's southeast side](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-09-03/hikers-following-google-gemini-ai-route-become-stranded-on-mt-shasta?ref=metatalks.ai) after leaning on Google's Gemini to decide their route and what to carry. The eight-hour climb they planned turned into a days-long ordeal that ended with a rescue.

The group camped at about 8,400 feet and set out at 3 a.m. the following morning carrying nothing but small day packs. They reached the top at 7 p.m., seven hours past the noon turnaround climbers are advised to observe, and began the descent after nightfall. An hour down, they phoned the county sheriff's dispatch for directions, and still went off course into a steep canyon.

One of the men fell that night and hurt his knee. Unable to climb out, the three put together a makeshift camp in the gully, with almost no shelter, and stayed there until morning, when Forest Service climbing rangers reached them and gave them medical care.

Once out, one of them told a sheriff's deputy that the group had relied on Gemini for the route and for what to carry. The sheriff's office called that the critical misstep. It said climbers should check with the local Forest Service ranger station before a trip, carry more than one method of navigation rather than trusting a single device, and never plan a climb on AI alone.

The stranding came days before Google announced a multi-year partnership with Beast Industries, the company founded by YouTube personality Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast. A video announced alongside it has teams racing through jungle, desert and Arctic settings, using Gemini to identify dangers and survive brutal weather.