{"id":489068,"date":"2026-10-08T09:52:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T09:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/489068\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T09:52:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T09:52:24","slug":"hgtv-contractor-found-dead-in-california-national-park-after-mount-whitney-hiking-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/489068\/","title":{"rendered":"HGTV Contractor Found Dead in California National Park After Mount Whitney Hiking Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

A contractor who once appeared on HGTV<\/a> has died at age 52.<\/p>\n

The California Post<\/a> recently reported that on Monday, October 5, Kalem Peter Kazarian<\/a> died while hiking Mount Whitney, citing local reports<\/a>. The outlet noted that the Tulare County Coroner’s Office confirmed his location of death as Sequoia National Park.<\/p>\n

However, it is unclear where exactly Kalem was hiking.<\/p>\n

\"<span<\/p>\n

Instagram \/ jonelle_kazarian<\/p>\n

According to the National Park Service website<\/a>, “Mt. Whitney lies on the boundary of Sequoia National Park and Inyo National Forest. Most people who climb Mt. Whitney start from the east side of the Sierra and remain in Inyo National Forest throughout their hike.”<\/p>\n

“Because it is the most frequently climbed mountain peak in the Sierra Nevada, a permit system is in place to minimize the impact of day-hikers on the Mt. Whitney backcountry,” the website read. “All hikers entering the Mt. Whitney zone, including day-hikers, are required to obtain a permit.”<\/p>\n

\"<span<\/p>\n

Instagram \/ jonelle_kazarian<\/p>\n

Kalem was a California native who worked as a contractor in the Fresno area. He appeared on a May 2019 episode of Go Big or Go Home<\/a> on HGTV<\/a>. The show never got picked up after its first episode. Kalem and his wife, Jonelle Kazarian, share three children. The couple celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary over the summer.<\/p>\n

In July, Jonelle shared videos on her Instagram from a camping and hiking adventure with Kalem.<\/p>\n

The coroner’s office told the California Post that Kalem’s exact cause of death had not been released yet.<\/p>\n

This story HGTV Contractor Found Dead in California National Park After Mount Whitney Hiking Trip<\/a> first appeared on First for Women<\/a>. Follow First for Women<\/a> on <\/a>Yahoo<\/a> so you don’t miss what’s coming next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A contractor who once appeared on HGTV has died at age 52. The California Post recently reported that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-489068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}