High Sierra Topix

Is it known exactly what time the bad weather hit that region and the snow started accumulating? That would have a definite bearing on his thought process on how to deal with his situation, and if applicable, what escape route to take? The worst scenario of course is that it started in the middle if the night (Sunday night?) and he was faced with a navigational nightmare Monday morning.

...update...
Ahhhh...just saw David's post. Some good analysis there. Looks like Taboose area would indeed be the best search epicenter if he was healthy/uninjured on Monday morning.

Let's hope the story ends up like this: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/news ... r-2299507/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Posted the search notice on the Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation board.
http://www.mtsanjacinto.info/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Keeping Larry and his family in our thoughts.

Sunny till Tuesday with temps in the mid 50's during the day and mid 20's at night are in the forecast which will help Larry and SAR.

This is scary stuff, and I can only imagine what Larry's family is going through. Here's hoping for his safe return.

TehipiteTom encapsulates my feelings on this. One thought I had is that if I was in that situation and found the storm prevented an exit over Taboose Pass, I'd head to the Bench Lake Ranger Station. Even if it's closed for the season, it might offer better protection from the elements and it's where a SAR party might go and so find me.

Do a google search on snow depth sierra nevada...snow survey...you can see exactly what time snow fell. I did it last night, cant link to it right now

Does anyone know if he likely carries a cell phone? There's no chance it can transmit from most of the search area, but I'm looking into methods of finding a signal from one. Seems like a long shot, but some people do carry phones even if they know there's no coverage.

g.

Gurkee wrote:
Does anyone know if he likely carries a cell phone?

Larry wrote in 2012:
Upper Lake Basin is even nicer, but my camera (actually iPhone, since my point & shoots keep breaking) battery was getting low so I don't have many
photos.

Hope this will help George!

Yes, it does help. I just forwarded that to the Incident Command and the electronic wizards. There's a separate discussion going on in my SAR & GIS group about how to find a cell signal from the phone itself without the tower involved. It seems possible though an incredible long shot at this point. Also, I assume you can turn off the cell capability to save battery??

Many thanks,

g.

Well, I just noticed this thread. This is an unhappy surprise. And one of our own too. I remember not too long ago that the Ranger for that area went missing for several years until he was at last found below Window Lake. I don't want to be a downer. but it kinda tells you what SAR is up against.
Having spent a fair amount of time in that area, my $0.02 worth is this.
A first day is just getting over Taboose Pass. If he was really gonzo, he might even get as far as Bench Lake, the lakes north of Pinchot Pass, or a ways up Upper Basin. He would probably figure that any place he could get to the first day would be near a place for his last camp for getting out in one day. For example, it would be pretty doable to make it from Bench Lake to the TH in one day, or any similar distance. Together that would account for 2 days. So, what did he plan for the two days remaining? My gut feeling would be that he would stay between the two passes (Pinchot/Mather). If he was enamored with Split Mountain, then that would suggest a camp in Upper Basin. Since it was pretty dry, the small lakes West of Split Mountain, or better, the small lakes south of those lakes would be a great spot to base-camp. For search purposes, Cardinal Lake could not be ruled out.
The lakes north of Pinchot are pretty straightforward, exposed and easily searchable.
If he sprained an ankle, got delayed and saw the weather coming in, he might be tempted to (god forbid) to go down the Muro Blanco, which could take several days or more with a sprained ankle (or broken leg, like for me).
The best hope is that he got his tent up, whatever his condition, and hunkered down.

thanks maverick.

were those passes sent to SEKI S&R as possible places he could have been day-hiking at to check out the crossings, hence, worth looking at by air search?

since he expressed interest in going there (to amphitheater) in the future, he may have been day-hiking around those cross country passes to check them out & could have sprained an ankle or something along those lines.