Unfortunately Bob remains missing as of the 21st (as far as I know). Due to the amount of snow and current conditions I don't believe he will be found until a substantial amount of snow has melted. I don't mean to speculate much but I think he may have fallen down one of the steep sections mentioned before, or perhaps he became hypothermic and wasn't mentally sharp, making a mistake in judgement and/or navigation. I have been hypothermic several times before and know how hard it can be to complete simple tasks or think straight. I could only see as far as I could from the route I followed, which closely mirrored his planned route, and I had no binoculars or other tools to see further. I am sorry for his family missing him. I ran into two other locals, one man I recognized as Pharraoh from his youtube channel, so know that people care and are trying to help SAR locate Bob.
Again, I am sorry for what you're going through right now. I hope my speculation as to his possible whereabouts doesn't come as disrespect. I want to convey nothing but love from a man who has spent the better part of his life in these mountains and who has lost loved ones here as well. If you are reading this now and want to reach out, please do so. It is best to email me at rd jobsite at gm ai l dot com.
-=Trip Report=-
-Foreward-
I wanted to write my own report of my day a bit separate from what I wrote above, so as not to be disrespectful to the man, his family, and the situation. I have helped search for missing people in the past and I myself have been rescued before, once by my friends while climbing after being hit by a large rock and losing a substantial amount of blood (enough to affect judgement), once by YOSAR after soloing up something I couldn't downclimb on Glacier Point Apron, as well as once by LA County in Fish Fork, an ordeal many are familiar with. Thus, I feel I have some level of understanding about the situation, and the recent loss of James Ledbetter and Tina Fiori was heartbreaking for me and my friends. I joke around constantly and don't take too much seriously, and I can be perhaps a bit rough on some people in discussing these mountains and the dangers present, but know I am full of love and it comes from a caring place. When I spend time in the world I am with those who I love and those who we have lost. Every time I tie a knot in an anchor and look down, every time I rappel off some tiny bush or place a shaky cam in a crack, each time I feel a bit of a shift under my crampon points, I think of my mom, my sisters, my friends, my people, those alive and those who have left us. I take safety seriously but I do not tolerate the growing mindset of banning access or limiting a free people's movement, even if it puts them in danger and by extension those who may need to help them. These are inescapable parts of life on Earth itself, and to limit the freedom of the individual soul is, for myself, completely intolerable, and goes against the fabric of my soul as a free man in this universe. I have been close to losing my own life on more than a few occasions in the mountains and elsewhere, sometimes while alone, and it will likely continue until I have passed as well. If you are missing someone and heartbroken, I feel for you and would like to give you a hug and place to speak, someone to listen. If you wish to limit my freedom in any way or that of others, know that I will proudly defy you. Time to think and reflect will bring balance to a response to loss and love, to pain and suffering within and outside. Life and death are one, and one cannot live without the absolute reality of death being closeby. There is a mindset I see demonstrated freely in shallow internet conversation which incorrectly thinks that limiting one's freedom will keep them alive, in some sort of selfish knee-jerk reaction way, in keeping one in the 'civilized' world away from the reality of life on Earth in what's now called the 'outdoors', will somehow help, as if keeping a bird in a cage to keep it alive for a few days or weeks longer is somehow better than flying free. Such is not and simply cannot be true, and I feel confident in saying this despite it being an opinion. Pain from loss is, in a way, proof of love, and one simply cannot have love without pain, as they are part of the same thing. As I have grown older and possibly wiser, I hear a song that reminds me of someone I love, or the sight of the crampons on my boots reminds me of a friend and our shared time in the mountains, and I grow quiet or tears come to my eyes. This is pain, perhaps, but also part of remembrance for love, for friends, for family. Yin and Yang. Light cannot exist without darkness. The pleasure of a hot meal cannot be made rich without the great hunger which precedes it.
With love,
Taco
-=Report=-
I couldn't sleep the night before, which is not uncommon before a trip of some size and consequence, and thus I set off with my touring bike loaded down with equipment at about 0500 on the 20th. I've ridden up to Crystal Lake countless times now, more than a few of those times with a fair bit of added weight for parties, climbs, hikes, and other activities. It takes about 6 hours to reach the Crystal Lake area in general from West Covina, on a loaded bike at a standard pace. I don't push, I just put it in the right gear and slowly hike along, much the same as if someone was wearing a heavy pack, albeit more comfortably. You let the mechanical advantage of lower gearing take care of the hard stuff and just set a pace you feel you can maintain forever.The road was mostly clean and in good shape after the storms. It had been closed to remove a large rock near one of the dams, but I couldn't see any lasting damage. Nearly all the land under the East Fork bridge was water, deep and fast moving in places. I don't think I've seen this much water here before. It extends into East Fork some distance, again more than I've ever seen. The OHV area is where it begins to look more 'normal', with the North and West Forks draining into this area with very fast moving streams. Many waterfalls are present which are normally dry or only have a trickle flowing down them. The second bridge over the North Fork was getting worked on today. They don't have the structure up yet, but it will run just south of the current bridge, on the left when going uphill. I stopped for breakfast at the bench near the Smith Mountain trailhead. I brought a small jar of peanut butter and an even smaller Nutella. I didn't realize it but the Nutella had expired and the Peanut Butter had separated so badly that there was no reviving it in the cold temps. It tasted like an old shoe, and the Nutella was alright despite what I assume was the palm oil collecting at the top and crystalizing. I ate two thick shoe flavored tortilla things before heading up.
One needn't bring much water if riding up, as one can fill up at the small spring at the hairpin not far beyond the trailhead for Lewis Falls. Since it was a cold day I didn't bring a lot of water, just filling up my three water bottles at this spring. I brought a 3 liter bladder cause I expected the water fountain near the cafe to be shut off or frozen, but I decided against filling it up as I didn't think it would be necessary. This would prove to be a good idea today. Such is not always the case.
I made it to the turn for Crystal Lake right at about 6 hours, not counting my 30 minute breakfast. I stopped in at Adam's to talk with him about Bob and the situation. He said SAR would stage from the cafe and conditions had been challenging up high, and so far nobody had found Bob. We talked for a bit before I headed up to the big parking lot. The road was clear until you cross the gate, where compacted snow from people walking through started. I got off the bike and pushed to Deer Flat, looking for a dry flat spot to change my boots and go into hiking mode. I couldn't find anything suitable there so I passed the gate onto the dirt road and put my foam pad down to change my boots and put my gear in the pack I brought, hiding my bike just off the road. Hiding is a bit of a strong word, as anyone could see it, but the footprints nearby were all at least 24hrs old, probably more like 48-72, and it was 1300 so I doubted anyone would come through here. My bike is also huge since I'm a tall guy, and there wasn't anything rideable for quite a distance so anyone trying to steal my big bike and push it down a hill would be faced with a great deal of work just to steal something they couldn't use.
I headed up the road, running into a group of students from UC Fullerton on a camping trip to Little Jimmy camp. They were aware of Bob being missing up here, and we talked briefly before I went up the Cienega Trail and they headed to Windy Gap. I kept my eyes peeled and stopped occasionally to look for sign or anything out of the ordinary on the route as it moved west across the southern aspect of Mt Islip. I ran into Pharraoh and his buddy who also came out to take a look for Bob. They had come straight up from Deer Flat or so and we talked for a while. Here is his video of their trip.
It got real windy just before reaching the South Ridge, so I put my down jacket on as well as my crampons. It wasn't quite crampon time, but it's much better to take one stop now in a good spot than a second in a windy spot where I need them, trying not to lose my stuff getting blown around. Smart guy things. I moved up the ridge keeping my eyes peeled on either side. The western side drops off precipitously in places, and I took a more detailed look down into some of these gullies. Overall I followed the tracks left by those who came before me, but took a different line up harder snow to save effort and avoid the chunks of ice falling from the trees. It was very windy as usual and the views were quite nice. I saw no sign up here aside from those before me, nothing to indicate anyone had moved off the route. I was getting very hungry, having eaten everything I brought, so I slowed down a bit and plugged away towards the summit. Took some photos from the top, noticed how much more snow had fallen in the 19 days since I had last been here, and moved towards Windy Gap. The trail was covered and there wasn't much sign so I just stayed true to the crest of the ridge. The snow had firmed up quite nicely so just my crampon points penetrated, making for easy and fast progress. I definitely needed to eat, and was feeling the hunger quite strongly by this point. Bike touring has taught me ways to minimize movement and thought to the bare minimum so I can continue moving despite being low on fuel. It felt good to be back on some relatively steep and hard snow in crampons again. I was wearing some Camp brand strap type steel 12 point crampons over my La Sportiva Trango Cube light mountaineering boots, and I noticed while flat footing that the rear points pull out of the snow/ice much faster and more easily than the stainless Black Diamond semi-auto crampons I normally wear. This likely saves energy on the non-technical routes the Camp crampons are made for. I decided against the BD crampons since they've got vertical front points and only fit my alpine boots, as they're semi auto. I can wear the Camps on my approach boots, which I rode up in.
I made it down to Windy Gap at the same time as the Fullerton group I mentioned before. I took some group pictures for them and chatted for a bit before heading down. Nice group of kids in for a cold night for sure, but they certainly seemed to have enough cold weather gear to have a moderately comfortable night. Makes me happy knowing they're going out there having fun and experiencing such things, as many are down below in the city unaware of how beautiful it is up there. They are richer for their experiences.
The wind cuts out abruptly as soon as you get down from Windy Gap, and the sun was setting, making for excellent photographs. I followed their boot track down the hill and turned into a bit of a zombie after a while due to my hunger. I got back to my bike, unlocked it, and kept my pack on as well as my crampons. I could've walked back to the clear and dry parking lot without them on, but I was too hungry to be well coordinated enough to get down without slipping and maybe getting bruised. The snow was just right for about 300ft so I tried to see if I could ride in crampons. I made it about 50ft before I slipped and jumped off the bike, laughing. I don't think I've ever ridden in crampons before, maybe once on my brutal 5 minute commute from Lost Arrow WOB's to Ahwahnee or something. No damage done, no twisted ankles. I kept pushing and made it to the parking lot where a nice young man in an Audi sedan with his brights on serenaded me with what has to be the most annoying trap music I've ever heard, and that's saying a lot. I wish I could remember the phrase the singer kept repeating so I could look it up. Eventually the song changed to a Drake song. Drake seems like a nice man, so why does he sometimes act like he's gonna shoot people or beat them up? Just help grandmas cross the road and be yourself. Everyone can see through the bullshit and would appreciate you much more if you were just your honest self. Oh well.
Eventually trap boy left and I finished putting my things away in my bike bags, and I carefully descended to Route 39. There was an electric Jeep there who was going slowly, so while he was stopped at the intersection I passed him on the left and sped down the hill. I kept ahead of him and created a gap. Very fun! I hit a lumpy section of black ice and entered what we professionals call 'Fun Mode', with the skinny 35mm tires slipping off to the side. Exciting! It wasn't enough to cause a problem, just get my heart rate up a beat or two, and I kept moving at a rapid pace. It is a special kind of fun to race downhill on a loaded touring bike weighing maybe 80lbs or so, kinda like racing a C130 or maybe a C123 down a canyon. I slowed a bit near the spring as the road was wet and there had been ice in the shade in the morning, but it was all thawed and I only lost a little of the gap before accelerating out of the corner. This upper section of 39 is one of my favorite stretches of road anywhere, with tight hairpins that dump elevation and lead into short straights where you can put the power down before the next corner entry. Balance is key on a loaded bike using rim brakes in the cold and with some wetness, adding to the fun. Eventually the Jeep passed me not far above West Fork, though I kept in his draft for a couple turns.
After crossing the Cogswell gate bridge I pulled over at that parking lot and changed out of my down jacket and beanie, as per the usual. I haven't gone down 39 below East Fork in some time, usually taking GMR as it's much more fun for not much more work, but I was starving so I jokingly threatened myself with going up and down GMR before continuing on. The rest of the way down was uneventful and I got back into Azusa around 2000 hours. I took Hollenbeck (we call it Hollaback) back home and got there around 2120. I was cold from having no calories to burn as well as from the 40 degree temps down here so I immediately started cooking burritos and eating an orange Danny gave me a few days earlier. This was one of the best oranges I've ever eaten, likely sweetened by my depleted state. I wasn't able to form a meaningful sentence so I waited to respond to texts until I had put some bean and cheese burritos down. I ended up eating 8 burritos, took a shower, and went to bed, having been awake for about 36 hours. I covered 75 miles with 9,900ft of gain by bike and foot, about 4-5 of those miles on foot.
Again, if you're part of Bob's family or friends or the SAR community and you wish to talk to me, I'm open. I don't know how much help I can be aside from ideas of where and how to search, I'm not on a SAR team and never have been, but I am here and willing to talk. I am deeply sorry for the situation and wish I could give you a hug. Know that the community does care and put some effort into helping others. I wish you the best of luck.
