BISHOP - Nearly a week after a 68-year-old Mentone man departed on a trip to summit Mount Whitney, his body has been found.

The National Park Service confirmed Monday that 68-year-old Bum “John” Lee was found dead Sunday. But the cause of the hiker's death was not immediately known.

The effort to find Lee on the highest peak in the continental U.S. began last Wednesday, according to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Lee and several friends departed last Monday morning with the intent of that day summiting Mount Whitney via the mountaineer’s route, a more challenging way than the popular hiking trail to the top of the 14,505-foot peak. But the group seemed to have gotten off route and chose to bivouac overnight near the top of the Whitney-Russell Pass, about a half-mile from the peak, according to the park service.

The next morning, Lee left the group to find a safe way to descend, a companion told the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office. Originally, sheriff’s investigators believed Lee had left his friends with the intention of summiting Whitney by himself, but they later learned new information.

Lee’s friends waited for him for several hours and then descended with the help of experienced hikers, believing they would meet Lee at their vehicle.

They got down to the trailhead at 10 p.m. Tuesday, but Lee did not appear. (Source: KTLA)

Story Date: July 27, 2016