Yosemite hiker killed by falling branch was ‘a really careful person,’ her father says

Angela Lin avoided risky sports Surfing Too dangerous Swimming too far from the beach Scared of sharks Rock climbing No way But she loved the outdoors Making plans with her boyfriend and two other friends to hike through the giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park last weekend the -year-old Google program engineer had nothing really to fear But in a freak accident July walking just a meager initiatives ahead of the others on a mostly paved old stagecoach road Angela was struck and killed by a falling tree limb Her family believes the heavy branch the width of a tire rim likely killed her instantly It didn t matter on that Saturday afternoon in Tuolumne Grove just a mile from the parking lot when only a faint breeze wafted through the giant sequoias that Angela was perpetually so careful This breaks my heart reported Elisabeth Barton a founding member of Echo Adventure Cooperative that guides tourists several days a week along the same trail It s that constant battle between safety and exploration Family questions Angela s parents who live in the Southern California city of Monterey Park want more information from the park system What kind of tree dropped the limb Is the park doing any trimming to prevent further tragedies But they haven t heard back and the National Park Utility didn t return messages this week from the Bay Area New Group While Angela s boyfriend her -year-old brother and her parents who immigrated from Taiwan in to pursue their doctorates prepare for an Aug memorial amenity near their home her father is struggling with regrets of his own Angela was very close to my wife Peter Lin disclosed in an interview Thursday evening with the Bay Area News Group But for me Maybe I m a poor communicator I don t know how to express my love for my daughter Her death was so sudden so shocking he noted his voice cracking I have no more chance to express my love to her Angela s mother who demanded not to be identified in this story to protect her privacy knew all about Angela s hiking plans through Yosemite last weekend They talked for sometimes two hours every Sunday But her father used to more perfunctory conversations with her had no idea So when he was packing up from his pickleball battle last Saturday evening he didn t believe that the man who called his cell phone from a strange number was really a park ranger Maybe he was a scammer Lin thought trying to shake him down for money by making up a cruel story about his daughter dying on a Yosemite Park trail Lin demanded the man put Angela s boyfriend David Hua on the phone And that s when he realized the unthinkable news was true David was crying Lin mentioned and he informed me the whole story Angela Lin the -year-old Google platform engineer in a photo from at Banff National Park Lin was killed in a freak accident by a falling tree limb while hiking at Yosemite National Park with friends onJuly th Photo courtesy of the Lin Family She had countless talents Angela and Hua had been dating since they met eight years ago during their senior year at UC Berkeley Graduating with honors in with a degree in electrical engineering and computer sciences Angela went on to earn a masters degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin During the COVID pandemic she volunteered as a mentor to middle school students using interactive coding assignments to make computer science more accessible to communities of color she wrote on her LinkedIn page She worked as a research engineer at Salesforce before joining Google in She lived in Mountain View We lost a loved and respected member of our company Google mentioned in a report We re very saddened by this tragedy and our hearts are with their family and loved ones Hua created a gofundme page in her honor it s not to raise money for her family or the memorial utility set for Aug in Southern California but rather to donate to one of her favorite causes KQED general radio She concluded in the power of knowledge and public Hua wrote and was saddened by the latest federal defunding of constituents media On the fund-raising page Hua posted photos of the dark-haired hiker with a big smile sporting a backpack near a beach in a rain jacket and hood near a mountain lake and in a sun hat and sunglasses high on a golden grass-covered hillside They trekked through Banff National Park in Canada and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming She cherished nature and the outdoors whether it was strolls along the beach hikes in the mountains or absolutely walks outside stated Hua who did not respond to interview requests from the Bay Area News Group Angela was known for her kindness sincerity and genuine and deep connections with others She was an avid swing dancer and an excellent baker working her way through Claire Saffitz cookbooks while baking delicious desserts for her friends he wrote As a research intern for Microsoft in she developed a statistical model for aligning efforts in text recipes with cooking videos She loved to sing and play guitar and joined choirs in high school and college She ran on the high school track company at -foot- with long legs she was quick her father explained and was unfailingly a brisk walker So it didn t surprise him he noted when Hua advised him that Angela was a scarce approaches ahead of everyone else that warm afternoon as they chatted along the trail admiring the massive trunks of the giant sequoias certain that may be and years old It was about when a crackling noise caught their attention They were trying to figure out the cracking sound when just two or three seconds later that limb just fell from the sky Peter Lin declared David closed his eyes and when he opened them Angela was already knocked unconscious It hit her directly he reported Hua called He performed CPR but she didn t respond Blood pooled at her head The Tuolumne County coroner authenticated in a report what they already knew Her death was accidental resulting from blunt injuries Of the roughly - to million people who visit Yosemite every year an average of to people die there annually Largest part are slips and falls sometimes when taking selfies Certain are from drowning Fatalities from falling rocks or trees are less common but happen In two teenage boys from Southern California were killed in their sleep in the Upper Pines Campground a popular spot in Yosemite Valley when a large oak tree branch hit their tent early one August morning Yosemite removes and trims trees to try to prevent hazards especially if they have the promising to fall and strike a person building or structure according to the park s website But the park is vast at square miles Trees in Yosemite like everywhere across the Western United States have been weakened by drought and bark beetles over the past decade but it s usually oaks that lose their limbs stated Barton of Echo Adventures In at the end of a four-year drought Yosemite estimated there were million dead trees within acres of the park and issued a warning to visitors that falling trees and limbs may pose vulnerability to life and infrastructure The hard part about what happened to Angela is that there s really nothing that could have changed the situation Barton mentioned There s no amount of instruction There is nothing the Park System could have done differently This was just an accident Angela s father though wants the park to do more to prevent deaths like his daughter s We want to help he noted and we hope this will be the last tragedy that happens in the national parks In the meantime he hopes other parents will learn from his mistakes and be more expressive with their children Pick up the phone Say a minimal words if you can he declared That s my advice to other fathers so they won t regret like me