EISPIRATEN

PackerGreg wrote:That bench was built as a memorial for a trail runner out of Sierra Madre that died on the ridge. I believe he hit an ice chute while running with his daughter, but not positive. I heard the story quite a while ago, however I did hear it from one of the men that built the bench: Pete McNulty.

Hiker Dies After Falling From Mountain Trail

Accidents: Man had taken afternoon off to explore San Gabriels with daughter, 8, who was unharmed.

April 08, 2000

JOE MOZINGO and RICHARD WINTON, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

A Sierra Madre man on a sunset hike with his daughter died Thursday after he slipped off the side of a steep trail in the San Gabriel Mountains and fell hundreds of feet while his 8-year-old girl helplessly screamed out for him. David Trinkle, 44, a bank vice president, was found barely alive in the narrow canyon late that night, but was pronounced dead shortly thereafter, said Sheriff's Sgt. Kenneth Handcox. The Sheriff's Department did not remove his body until 8 a.m. Friday because navigating a helicopter in the mountains at night is extremely dangerous, officials said. Trinkle's death comes as prime hiking season begins and thousands of people pour into the rugged terrain of the so-called front range, where trails follow scraggly canyon walls straight from neighborhood streets into the isolated wilderness. The Mt. Wilson Trail is one of the most popular and historic, winding to the Wilson summit, with its world-famous observatories. But the unique geology of the San Gabriels creates special hazards, forestry officials warn. Because the mountains are so young and fractured by seismic faults, the rock is loose, the trails are narrow and the slopes are steep. Trinkle was an ultra-marathon runner who decided to take his daughter Andrea on a hike because she was out of school for spring break, according to friends.

"He was trying to spend time with his daughter," said one friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He has a very high-pressure job."

Trinkle took part of the afternoon off from his job at GMAC Commercial Credit bank in Los Angeles. His wife dropped him and his daughter off, along with their Dalmatian, at the Mt. Wilson Trail near Baldwin Avenue in Sierra Madre. Trinkle and his daughter started up the twisting path, traversing rocky, sun-beaten terrain toward a lush creekside spot called First Water. About 6:30 p.m., Trinkle and his daughter were walking back to town when a jogger named Will Sera came up behind them. Just above some steep switchbacks, he saw them climb off the main trail, over a berm and onto an old trail that had been washed out.

"Those of us who go up there a lot, you know the area and want to see what happened to the trail," said Sera, explaining that he too had once climbed onto the lower trail.