High Sierra Topix

So sorry to hear this. I did not know him personally, but did enjoy reading his posts. Thank you for letting us know. He will be missed!

Damn! What sad, sad, unexpected news. Russ was a friendly, generous and genuine guy, and I had high hopes of climbing around with Russ one fine day, and getting to know him better.

Harlen, I'll meet you up there some day if you want to climb.

-Russ

But:
"The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!"


I'm sure I'm not the only one who believes that Russ lived a full and joyful life. My sincere condolences to his family, and all those who are sure to miss him.

I have tears in my eyes as I am writing this. Just a little more than a week ago he posted about his trip to the Sweetwater Range. Now he's gone. How quickly we can leave this world! And no warning either! I never met him. However, over the years I read his posts. I enjoyed looking at his pictures. I remember the ones he posted last year of the Ebbetts Pass area. Never did it occur to me he would leave us. But then that's how life is...easy come, easy go. We take for granted that we will always be here.

One thing I noticed whenever reading his posts was a quote by Kahil Gibran. It must have been important to Russ since he made it his signature line at the bottom of each post:

...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?

For quite some time, had his location down as

1060 West Addison Street
Chicago, IL.

Always cracked me up.

I couldn’t post on this thread after it appeared. It was too much of a shock. As giantbrookie said about the worst subject line. . . I’m at a loss for words. I’m another who never met him, but always read and enjoyed his posts. I"ll miss him.

This is so sad. I'm another who didn't know him but appreciated his posts. His stories were always engaging and often fascinating--e.g., his quest for the grinding rocks below Salt Springs reservoir.

So sad. RIP Russ. Also didn't know him but appreciated what he brought to our community here.

So sorry to hear this news. I appreciated Russ's contributions to the forum and the sharp sense of humor and keen perspective that shone through his posts.

Such terrible news, RIP Russ. I always enjoyed your posts, and living the life. Take care.