Resuming The Search For Larry 7/30 - 8/4

Use this forum to stay informed on missing persons alerts, active SAR's and unfortunate hiker accidents we can all hopefully learn from. Any information you may have on a missing person, including first hand weather related information or any other insight (however little) may prove to be critical information to Law Enforcement / SAR in locating the person in question.
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LMBSGV
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Re: Resuming The Search For Larry 7/30 - 8/4

Post by LMBSGV »

I just returned from a vacation and after PMs, this was the first thread I went looking for. There are no adequate words to express my emotions.

My condolences to Larry’s friends and family and to everyone here at HST - we’ve all lost a friend even if we never met in person.

I am all for naming a feature in Larry’s honor and memory.
I don’t need a goal destination. I need a destination that meets my goals.

http://laurencebrauer.com
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mshields
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Re: Resuming The Search For Larry 7/30 - 8/4

Post by mshields »

Apologize for the late condolences, as I have been outside the forum for a couple months. I am sure Larry's family and friends will appreciate them even if they come late. My thoughts and prayers go out for Larry and his family. Thanks to all in the HST community and elsewhere who made such a noble effort in bringing closure to this.

REST IN PEACE LARRY!
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maverick
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Follow Up Info

Post by maverick »

Posting this follow up with the families permission.
Larry’s possessions including his iPhone was collected this
past weekend by Claus, and after going over the photos and
discussing everything with Claus that has transpired, this is
my feeble attempt to surmise what possibly could have happened
the last day based on this new, but woefully inadequate
evidence.

After viewing the photos Larry took on this iPhone which
includes times and gps coordinates we can now confirm
that he stayed at the camps located at 9600ft on the eastern
side of Taboose Pass for his first night.
The next day he stayed at Lake 11598 west of Split Mtn. then
climbed up onto the ridge via the “North Slope” route the next
morning but most likely did not summit since he did not sign
nor did he take photos from the top of Split Mtn.
He spent the next day using the JMT to get to the Marjorie Lake
area where he set up camp and spent the night.
On Monday during the snowstorm Larry made it from Marjorie
to the Bench Lake/JMT junction verified by the photo posted here:


Then up 3 miles to the top towards the southern
end of Taboose Pass in approximately 2 ½ hrs. confirmed by
Larry’s last photo, which included the time and gps coordinates.
From where his tent, backpack, and other possessions were
found it seems possible that he may have been considering taking
a similar exit route as he did from the Striped Mtn. area a few
months earlier.
What happened to Larry after setting up his tent is a mystery
and something we unfortunately will never know.
Some things that we do know and have learned from his photos
and gps coordinates is that he was making his way up to Taboose
Pass without any problems, especially when taking the weather
conditions into account. He made it from the Taboose Pass
Trail/JMT junction to the vicinity of Taboose Pass in a little
less than 2 ½ hrs. Larry was enjoying himself taking a few
landscape photos of the snowy conditions on the way up which
definitely does not hint to Larry being lost, or injured in any way.
The conditions at the top of the pass turned more severe with
visibility maybe 50 to 75 feet at most, maybe even less at the
very top, which is also confirmed by the a photo Larry took
near the top just west of Taboose Pass here:



There was no water source since the creek that runs down
the western side was frozen in one of his pictures and the lakes
at the top of the pass may have had a sheet of ice on the top
of them. Larry did not, and has never carried an oven since he
only eats cold meals, so warm meals, or a hot water bottle were
not an option. He may have also run out of food that morning since
he usually did not carry extra food rations with him on trips.
A fire was also not an option since there are no trees at the top of
Taboose Pass or anywhere near its vicinity.
It was about noon when Larry made it to the top of Taboose Pass,
why didn’t he continue down to the safety of lower elevations?
Where conditions so bad, visibility wise, that he felt it to be to
dangerous to continue? Temps were in the 20’s, hypothermia
could have been an issue (made a point to re-reading all medical
information related to hypothermia), especially with the intense
hiking over the fresh snowy terrain would have caused him to
get wet from sweat allowing the heat to radiate from his body
over time. With temp in the 20’s he would have been breathing
in cold air further lowering his core temp, then add in the high wind
increasing the chill factor. After enough heat was lost to his brain
he would no longer functioning properly and he would not have
noticed that he was shivering severely, muscles would become stiff,
he would have slowed down moving less, and less, possibly having
enough energy to set up his tent, attempted to warm up with several
layers of clothing, got into his sleeping bag, and fell into a stupor
from which he never woke up. This scenario may or may not be
what happened, but with no evidence it is my best guess.
Hopefully we all can learn something from this tragic incident,
being conservative in our abilities when it comes to emergency
situations is possible the safest avenue to take when it comes to
survival. Understanding and especially educating ourselves about
the importance of seeking shelter instead of exposing ourselves
to the severe outside environments can be the difference between
life and death. Understand the BIG 3 rules of survival, 3 hours
without shelter, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food,
our chances of survival diminish, and these numbers drop
substantially in extreme conditions.
Larry was experienced, knowledgeable in snow travel, and from
the photos it seems he was not having any issues, so he decided
to continue on but was stopped just east of the pass, why? No
emergency phone call attempts were recorded on his iPhone. Being
at the top of the pass by noon one would think he would make an
attempted to get to lower elevations and out of the brunt of the
storm, but he did not, why?
Visibility was bad, did he loose his bearings, and chose to set up
his tent to wait out the storm?
Some may say that going down to Bench Lake to wait out the storm
would have been a better decision, and in hindsight Larry would
probably still be with us, maybe, but if he did suffer a medical
emergency or something else that needed immediate attention
SAR would not have been able to go in till after the storm.
Also Larry seemed to be comfortable in his abilities to handle this
situation, so whatever happened after 12:00 10/22/12 that caused
his death may have been something totally unpredictable that none
of us could have survived no matter how experienced, strong, or if
we had been carrying a SPOT or other emergency device since SAR
could not have responded due to the storm.
Many open ended questions to which there are no clues in helping us
to piece together any plausible or reasonable explanation on what
happened in the end to Larry is extremely frustrating to say the
least and only brings many of us a partial closure which is the best
unfortunately we will ever get.
If by any chance some miraculous evidence surfaces that can shed
light on what happened I will let everyone here know immediately.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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Vaca Russ
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Re: Resuming The Search For Larry 7/30 - 8/4

Post by Vaca Russ »

Maverick,

Thanks for keeping us updated. :thumbsup:

-Russ
"...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?"

Kahil Gibran.
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jessegooddog
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Re: Resuming The Search For Larry 7/30 - 8/4

Post by jessegooddog »

Thank you so much for updating us, Maverick. I hope Claus and Alexander are at peace with his memories.
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Re: Resuming The Search For Larry 7/30 - 8/4

Post by DAVELA »

I am sad to learn of LCs confirmed passing.Wow.I didnt know lc but for his posts here and a couple of replies to my posts.What i remember of him that stood out was that he carried himself in a civil manner on the internet-which is rare for the internets!
How,when and why we go is an unknown.However,when observing something as simple as a bug landing on a plant leaf or listening to the wind blowing through the trees,or fresh snow in the mountains, i am reminded of the miracle of this thing we are living in temporarily called life.

I had no idea that LCs remains had been found.I have been reading this thread once in a while but aside from the one post by Mav confirming this(that i somehow missed til tonight),there is no mention of it elsewhere.Its funny how none of the posts following Mavs post allude to LCs confirmed passing.I just assumed people where posting rip's since so much time had passed.
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Re: Larry RIP

Post by giantbrookie »

First, my belated condolences to Larry's loved ones. I missed the set of posts back in June, so I didn't clue in until reading the updates here. My hat's off to Peter for his efforts in this that are a modern day echo of Norman Clyde's legendary search for Walter Starr Jr. Thanks also for the update on the iPhone information. Rest in Peace, High Sierra soul brother Larry. Few in this day in this day and age have your spontaneity and improvisational spirit and the world is poorer for it.
Since my fishing (etc.) website is still down, you can be distracted by geology stuff at: http://www.fresnostate.edu/csm/ees/facu ... ayshi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Resuming The Search For Larry 7/30 - 8/4

Post by Troutdog 59 »

Thanks for the update Peter, but more importantly thank you for your unwavering dedication and efforts to bring closure to Larry's disappearance. You are a good person and were a source of strength for Larry's family during difficult times. Larry's disappearance touched me more than I had anticipated, but the words and actions expressed by many on this site warmed my heart as to the quality of the individuals involved, especially you. As others have expressed, I never actually met Larry and knew him only through his posts on this site, but like many who frequent HST, we shared a passion for being in the high country. Regardless of what initially gets us all to journey into the high country (photography, climbing, peak bagging, fishing, art, etc, etc) that first time, its the Sierra itself that captures us so deeply and calls us back season after season. From reading some of his posts, its quite clear that Larry indeed shared such a passion and truly loved being in the most wild and remote places of the Sierra Nevada. Rest in peace Larry.
Once in a while you can get shown the light
In the strangest places if you look at it right.

The Grateful Dead
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