I wasn’t sure where to post this news exactly, but thought it was very relevant for many people familiar with the Uintas and the Highline Trail. What follows are my opinions following the recovery and understanding of the surrounding terrain. First off, I hope it provides some clarity for the family, but also is educational for the community as well. A very tragic story, but I think this will finally answer many of the questions surrounding Eric’s mysterious disappearance.
Last Friday, we were sipping coffee in camp at Allsop Lake when a man approached our camp explaining he and his sons had found human remains above the lake the night before, and wondered if we had any way to call in SAR. I was able to use my satellite communicator to get in touch with my brother, who coordinated the recovery efforts with the Summit County Sheriff’s office.
On Thursday night, our group made our way from Deadhorse Lake to Allsop Lake, following the same route that Eric was likely following. It requires crossing Allsop Pass, which is fairly straightforward from the Deadhorse side, but very complex on the Allsop side if you aren’t familiar with it. What follows is my opinion, but based on the scene and our own experience navigating the same route it seems he must have been trying to pick his way down the cliffs to Allsop Lake when he fell.
Most obvious question people are going to ask today is how he ended up so far from the Highline Trail, especially when almost all of the search was concentrated along that trail 5 years ago (most of it in Yellowstone drainage, which is quite a long ways from this location) The answer is pretty simple – from Deadhorse Lake, the trail up to Deadhorse Pass actually looks rather unlikely (especially in 2011 which was a high snow year, and the pass still would have had drifts on it). It’s a steep massive pass. If you weren’t navigating carefully, you could look west to Allsop Pass, see a much more gentle slope, and assume that was actually the correct route of the Highline Trail. In fact, there are remains of a decent trail on Allsop, that could easily convince someone they were in the right place.
However, once you reach the top of Allsop Pass, the signs of a trail disappear. The first route down the other side you encounter is a very steep and very intimidating looking couloir. Most of our group did not want to go down that couloir, and I can imagine Eric probably did not either, especially being solo. The next thing to do would be to find an alternate route down. Unfortunately, there are only two options, if you don’t use the couloir you must traverse the ridge a half mile to the north, and find a very steep and loose scree scramble. Along the ridge, there are occasionally cairns marking the way. But often, these cairns are not clear, and could actually encourage someone to leave the ridge prematurely, in search of a route through the cliffs.
The other question people will ask is why it took so long to find his remains, especially when this isn’t exactly the most remote area of the Uintas. In short, he was found on the Summit County side of the Uinta crest. The majority of the Highline Trail is in Duchesne County. The only exception being the small stretch from Red Knob pass to Deadhorse Pass. If he truly went off trail at Deadhorse, and crossed Allsop Pass, he would have been in Summit County, not Duchesne, and far enough away from the Highline that it would have been an unlikely location to search. Duchesne County handled most of the original SAR logistics, expecting that he was on or near the Highline Trail. Additionally, the area below the cliffs is very rugged terrain, even though it is very close to popular camps at Allsop Lake.
My best guess, after being on the pass and at the recovery on Friday, is that this is most likely what happened. My heart goes out to his family. I hope that after 5 years this discovery at least helps to shed some more light on what might have happened, and they are able to find some more closure.
