[TR] Pioneer Basin / Stand By Me

“I'm to tired to go into details, but I have dubbed this trip "Stand By Me". In the following news clippings, we are not the hiking group identified, but we did talk to the two officers who did the field investigation. And yes, atleast 3 of us saw Mr Beck.

Hikers find dead man

The Fresno Bee
(Updated Monday, August 7, 2006, 8:23 AM)

A police helicopter was dispatched this morning to the Sierra National Forest after hikers found a dead body.

A group of hikers came across the body of a man at Mono Rock on Sunday evening, said Lt. Fernando Lopez of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department.

The man is described as a white man in his 60s. The helicopter was dispatched early this morning so authorities could get a look at the body during the daylight. No further information was provided.


*Body found in forest*

A police helicopter was dispatched Monday morning to the Sierra National Forest after hikers found a body.

A group of hikers came across the body of a man at Mono Rock on Sunday evening, said Lt. Fernando Lopez of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department.

The man, who was not identified pending a coroner's investigation, was from San Mateo, said sheriff's Lt. Frances Devins. He was hiking, slipped on a rock and fatally injured himself, she said.


Dead hiker identified

The Fresno Bee

(Updated Tuesday, August 8, 2006, 7:59 AM)

The identity of a hiker killed in a fall at Mono Rock in the Sierra National Forest was made public this morning by the Fresno County Coroner's Office.

Dead is Christian Beck, 62, of San Mateo.

Fresno County's sheriff's officials reported a group of hikers discovered the body Sunday night.

Deputies said Beck was killed when he slipped on a rock and fell. His body was recovered Monday.”

“To go along with that, I figured I should also post some quotes that had significant foreshadowing during our trip.

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wannabp: "Do you usually carry radios on your trips?"
matt: "We really don't need them. We do a good job of staying close together"

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landscaper: "I've been thinking of hiking horror stories. Like if you went off for a few minutes and when you came back, your group was gone."

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aussie: "These trips are usually setup so everyone is self sufficient, right?"

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matt: "What's the deal with the helicopters?"
sheriff: "Behind me."

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matt, aussie, cubfan, geologyguy: "Why in the world would your group continue hiking if one of your members was missing?"

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geologyguy: "There was a body?"

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matt: "If the person with the permit dies, then everyone else will feel guilty."

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matt reading geologyguy's thought bubble: "If something goes wrong, how much am I [geologyguy] responsible for everyone else"

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matt thinking to himself after reading geologyguy's thought bubble: "What is the liability of the website if something goes wrong on a trip? How many times am I going to get sued"

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matt, geologyguy: "What is that guy doing, chewing cud?"”

“That will teach matt to go backpacking and let TT die for three days! ;-)”

“Pictures???? ;-)”

“Hey, I've got alot more horror stories, like what if you got up in the morning and opened up your bear cannister only to find a fat smiling marmot...”

“Great trip!!! Great trip report!!! Landscaper did say that, didn't he?

Things follow their appointed course, no matter how well you plan. And it (always, generally, hopefully) works out for the best. I didn't see any dead body. Sometimes, it's best to be slowest.

We came home via hwy 12 to avoid the traffic on 580/680, but the traffic followed us there. Thank God, we had the number for the JVZ and Debbi Backpacker's Hostel and knew our way to the Lodi Brewery.”

“Sounds like a memorable trip! Looking forward to the pics...(any pics of the Mr. Beck?)”

“Thanks for posting your trip report.”

“TR lite.........

Need more info!!!!!!”

“"I'm to tired to go into details, ..."

Sit down, you're out of line! Give him a chance to recover.

LOL.”

“Yeah stovie, he just finished a death march for god sakes!”

“deathmarch!!! LOL”

“I couldn't resist.

Hey, not a bad way to go really. Maybe a little early, but what a better place to do it than in a hospital with a diaper, and tubes coming from everywhere?”

“San Francisco Chronicle
BECK, Christian George

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Christian George Beck 62, died unexpectedly while backpacking on the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Mountains on Sunday, August 6, 2006. Christian was the beloved husband to Ruth Kuuipo Beck; father to Karen Beck Affonso, Kerry Beck, and Jennifer Beck; and grandfather to Josh, Jake, Keila, Ryan, and Paige. Also survived by his brothers Carl Beck and Robert Beck; sister, Liane Lorin; and sons-in-law, Rick Kerzic and Steven Affonso. A San Mateo resident for 38 years, Christian retired from the Internal Revenue Service after 34 years. He was truly devoted to his wife, family and friends. A Vigil Rosary will be said on Thursday, August 10, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at SNEIDER & SULLIVAN & O'CONNELL'S FUNERAL HOME, 977 So. El Camino Real in San Mateo. A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, August 11, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. at St. Bartholomew's Catholic Church, 300 Alameda de las Pulgas in San Mateo. Friends and family are invited to gather immediately following the Mass at the San Mateo Elks Club at 229 West 20th Avenue in San Mateo. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions to Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center at cancer.stanford.edu/help/gift.html or Peninsula Open Spaces Trust at: www.openspacetrust.org/”

“So, did everyone end up going on this trip as planned?”

“There y'all go.
Sucking up to the webmaster. ;-)
LOL”

“See Stovey?? You're gonna end up BANNED after all, when all is said and done.

And now... was there a TR somewhere there that I missed??? ;-P”

“No, that was what I was #&%!$ing about, lizsbaby. ;-)”

“Not exactly Phil. Landscaper(aka Tonto) tried to follow the tracks of Superhiker(aka Matt) and his band of desperatos up a insanely steep hill sort of toward Mill lake. Landscapers better half wannabp thought his was nutts but he wouldn't listen. suddenly, voices were heard. Far below and away we hear Cubfan and Auzzie yelling. Were they yelling to us? Time was pressing on Landscaper and wannabe to make a decision, turn back and return back the way we came or redirect push on and find the rest of the group. Pooped out, we returned to Mill creek and set up camp. We were pretty sure the rest of the group would press on. Much thought was given to what went wrong, what could be learned. Some valuable lessons for sure. Wannabe and I had 2 nice days hiking alone and one bueatiful night a spot she coined the "Eagles Nest". Alase, we rejoined the group when we were spotted walking along the road back to Mosquito Flats parking lot after having filled our bellies with Chicken tortilla soup at the Rock Creek Cafe.”

“landscaper - so, were you and wannabp trying to go over a pass or something and turned around? Not sure I get the whole picture here.”

“Matt - thanks for doing the research.”

“On the same day that we saw Mr Beck, we had planned to camp at Lower Mills Lake. In order to get to that lake, we had to go up an insanely steep hill, with barely a trail visible. Lower Mills Lake was 2 more lakes up from the top of the hill. Myself, aussie, cubfan and gguy finally made it to the top of the hill, and decided to camp at that lake instead of pressing further. We waited for landscaper and wannabp at the top of the hill, but they never appeared. As landscaper already mentioned, they decided to turn back. So the next day after much discussion, the 4 of us decided to continue with our itenerary and assume that landscaper and wannabp would return to our starting trail head. In the end, everything worked out. Maybe tomorrow I can give a better play-by-play.”

“We were trying to get to Lower Mills Creek Lake. Looks easy enough on the map. LOL, I was the only one in the group who considered the map to be the first line of approach, because there was a use trail, complete with footsteps and ducks, which we all doggedly followed up the increasingly steep side of a mountain where any lake would immediately empty into a glorious and short-lived waterfall. The general idea was to skirt a tributary, but the decision became to leave the footsteps and traverse south to where the lake should be (whenever we ventured that way, the terrain became impassable) or continue to follow the 'trail' because where the @#$%& else would it be going since this was part of the Sierra High Route. After three incredibly steep uphill hours with the ridgeline finally close enough above us to see in clear detail, Jerry and I had lost sight of anything but footprints. We thought we could hear voices below us, but couldn't raise a definitive response hollaring back. I blew the whistle once, but could hear no reply. It was getting late enough that we had to decide between a mythical lake somewhere below and south of us or a for-real stream three hours below or a night perched on the edge of the mountain. I cast a strong vote for the stream. Jerry was up for one more foray south, which as it turns out, would have got us reunited, but Jerry deferred to my certainty that getting off the steep mountainside and to a water source before dark was the highest priority.

So we backtracked and decided we should continue backtracking to the entry TH rather than spend another half day trying to find the lost lake, followed by a day finding the unknown and off trail pass.

That evening, finally settled along Mills Creek right beside the trail, just in case, we talked about how we forgot to bring the radios (too busy at work so we packed in a hurry) and how we didn't make a contingency plan (we never needed one before) and what we thought the others would do (figure out we went back and would exit the way we entered - possibly a day early, continue on - possibly come out a day early, worry about us but be confident we were okay) - all of which happened. Geologyguy remembered that I had made the comment weeks before that Jerry and I would backtrack if Cox Col was too difficult. Yes, we were all self-sufficient.

The 'fearless four' sent word via hikers coming our way that we should turn back - turns out those hikers exagerataed the difficulties of the trail ahead, which was why they thought we should turn back. More likely, the unknown hikers underestimated the strength of the 'fearless four' especially Aussie. We set them straight on that point!

We all exited a day early, serendipitously found each other along the road to the TH, and had a celebratory dinner at Tom's Place.

The take-home message for me - bring radios, communicate your contingency plan out loud, and cherish the experience of everything working out well despite changing course unexpectedly.”

“OK. I get it now! Glad things worked out!

wannabp - thanks for the words of wisdom!”

“Great to see everyone again, and another adventure. Glad to see everyone got home safely.”

“great pictures.”

“Thanks for the pics!”

“"DEAD HIKER IDENTIFIED"

Another headline.

Sad story. Mostly because it happened to a fellow with a family as it is. Scary story. Mostly because that could've been any one of us.

Hope his family heals okay. Hope they come together and honor his life. Hope Christian was close to them and knew them.

”

“Thanks for the pictures, Matt. It's great to see what it looked like on the other side of the Mills Creek Hill. :-)”

“Not enough pictures of those good looking women on this trip. ;-)”

“Slipped on what rock? It was not a totally rocky trail, at that point. There was not a creek crossing there. If he was on the trail, I cannot imagine what he slipped on. It was not that bad of a trail there. Unless he had a heart attack there and fell over.

That 2nd Recess climb was a #&%!$. I would have hated to do the whole thing at 1 time instead of breaking it up like we did.

Had a great time, so good to see all the familar faces again.”