[pct-l] Death on the PCT / John Joseph Donovan

Tue Jan 26 16:40:43 CST 2010

FWIW, Mr. Donovan had camped with a group, but was not a "regular member" of
that group.  Nor was he paired with his friend at the time, as his friend
had already left the trail at Warner Springs.  The hikers who John Donovan
had been camped with by happenstance left the PCT and went to Idyllwild
through the Devil's Slide trail (not a road walk).  The night before, as the
hikers studied their maps and got out their compasses to choose their route
for the next day, Mr. Donovan did not pay attention or come over where the
discussion was going on. He did not indicate that he was planning to go into
Idyllwild. He did not have a resupply box in Idyllwild; his box was in
Cabazon.  When they broke camp and took off hiking the next morning, Mr.
Donovan was slower than those he had camped with. Those who saw him last
thought that he was behind them, and were completely unaware that he had
become lost. Otherwise, they would have reported him missing. In fact, no
one was aware that he was missing for many days, until snail-mail
correspondence wasn't received back east and a friend began trying to locate
him.

I will never forget John Donovan, and his friends' grief. What upsets me
every time I remember what happened is that I see so many hikers every year
heading out similarly ill-prepared:  inadequate food, water, maps, clothing,
and/or shelter, paired with a cavalier and/or over-confident attitudes. 

If we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.  

L-Rod

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Ron
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 9:01 PM
To: Stephen Adams; Don Billings
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Death on the PCT / John Joseph Donovan

I too have done some "serious reading" on this event and have had a 35 year
relationship with the SAR people who searched for and eventually found him.
His own hiking partner refused to accommodate him because of conditions.
The other hikers didn't merely "advise" him, they pleaded with him to do a
roadwalk into Idyllwild - which to my knowledge, everyone else had done to
that point.  I was following the journals closely and can't remember anyone
hiking through Fuller Ridge at that point.

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net
[mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]On Behalf Of Stephen Adams
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 6:10 PM
To: Don Billings
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Death on the PCT / John Joseph Donovan

Or how 'bout maybe it's not a good idea to hike alone up into the mountains
with minimal summer gear, very little food, and knowing well that there is
weather coming, and there probably wont be anyone around.
On Jan 25, 2010, at 5:49 PM, Don Billings wrote:

> I did some serious reading on the event and from what I read, nobody knew
what happened because the last people to see him
> were headed down to shelter and merely advised him to do likewise as he
continued onward.
>
> When he was found, his notes said that he had "taken a fall" and was
unable to climb out. It sounded as if he set camp after that.
>
> As for having food, he wasn't prepared at all. He ate his final crackers
while camped. He had no food provisions to last him. In fact, that
> was one of the sad aspects of the story. He celebrated his 60th
birthday.... alone..... eating his last crackers.
>
> He didn't start hiking out, either. They found his body about 150 feet
from his camp site and his notes indicated he was going for water.
> Someone else posted that the "water" was Hidden Creek. See pdf map file
link below.
>
> He did have matches left which were used by the (lost) couple who stumbled
across his camp. But maybe he died before he could use them.
> i.e. heavy wind / snow. The matches were found by the couple inside his
backpack buried within/within/within bags.
>
> The sad part was that nobody knew where he was and his contacts back East
did not realize a problem for about 10 days... and he was dead by
> then. They only realized he was in trouble when he failed to show up for
resupply and upon checking by phone with the post office. So, he was stuck
> and he knew nobody was looking for him.
>
> One person theorized that he saw the lights of Palm Springs below and
attempted to bushwhack downward. His fall may have actually broken a hip or
a leg so
> that he couldn't walk. They did the usual autopsy but I didn't see any
news item that reported after that aspect of the investigation. It would
have been
> revealing to read that, yes, he had a severe broken bone which precluded
him from helping himself.
>
> The link I'm posting here shows the area where the (lost) couple began
their own 4 day survival episode. They intended to merely hike a 1.5 mile
tourist loop
> which is directly outside of the Palm Springs Aerial Tram and then
intentionally went off trail. So, you can see where they started... and they
stumbled
> across Donovan's camp on their second day of being lost.
>
> www.parks.ca.gov/pages/636/files/mtsanjacintospmap.pdf
>
> Even the (lost) couple were in trouble despite attempting a common self
rescue tactic of following a creek down hill. They were blocked, as was
Donovan, at a steep "gorge."
>
> I think that there are lessons to be learned from this story, too. Thats
one reason I posted it. When I was young, I never used to think about the
risks of doing something solo... until I found myself in scary situations.
:)  Now, I wish I could hike solo, but its just safer not to. Just like
scuba diving... it better to not be alone.
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Tortoise <Tortoise73 at charter.net>
> To: Pct-l at backcountry.net
> Sent: Mon, January 25, 2010 4:06:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Death on the PCT / John Joseph Donovan
>
> As I recall from the accounts, John had stopped and made camp. He still
> had food and supplies including matches. He could have stayed in his
> camp to wait out the storm. But for some reason he left camp and started
> hiking to ???.
>
> To me an important lesson from this affair is that if you are lost in
> bad weather and camped, stay put in camp until better weather. Then
> signal for help as soon as you can get to someplace where others may see
> you.
>
> Even if you are just lost, really lost, stay put. Staying put makes it
> easier for people to find you.
>
> At least long enough for STOPA.  Sit, think, options, plan, action.
>
> We don't know what John Donovan was thinking nor why he left camp.
> Possibly hypothermia.
>
> Tortoise
>
> Because truth matters"
>
>
>
> Don Billings wrote:
>> Paul,
>>
>> I agree that turning back would have been the prudent thing to do in
John's case. From what I read, though, he routinely
>> hiked miles in the snow to and from work in his home state so he may have
simply had too much confidence in his ability.
>>
>> Nobody knows for sure what went wrong or WHEN it went wrong, but I
suspect he realized he made a mistake and then
>> attempted to head for safety. Being without a compass and gps in the dark
and in a snow storm could have been his downfall.
>> Rather than being the most dangerous gear in his pack, he could have used
the backtrack feature to perhaps find his previous
>> location.
>>
>> In any case, his hiking without compass nor gps was a mistake. I even
read that the maps he had were of poor quality but I'm
>> not sure what maps were used. He was a poor man all of his life and
scrimped on everything. So, if he had photocopied maps,
>> that too may have been his downfall. When you read of his life, and his
low income (he didn't even have $$ for a phone at his
>> apartment)....  you have to cut him some slack. He finally found
something he could do on his income/retirement that he
>> liked but he still had those lifelong habits of frugality..... but the
one thing, in my mind, that nobody should cheap out on
>> is safety gear.
>>
>> The thing that struck me heavily was that after having a hard life
(parents gone by age 10, etc), he stated to friends that his
>> lifelong fear in life was to die alone. So, imagine how he felt... in the
snow, injured, without food, nobody knowing where he was,
>> no S&R initiated, and without the proper gear. The story just tugs at my
compassion.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Paul Mitchell <bluebrain at bluebrain.ca>
>> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
>> Sent: Mon, January 25, 2010 1:00:42 PM
>> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Death on the PCT / John Joseph Donovan
>>
>> With all due respect to the late Mr. Donovan, I'd chime in to say that
much
>> more valuable than a compass and GPS in his situation would have been a
bit
>> of caution and sense.  John took on the San Jacinto stretch with
ultra-light
>> gear, 3 feet of snow on the ground and foreknowledge that a storm was
>> blowing in that night.  The other hikers who last met him had the sense
to
>> descent to Idyllwild to shelter from the inbound snowstorm, yet John
decided
>> to press on through serious snow into a high altitude snow storm.
>>
>> If a compass and GPS gave you the confidence to enter a mountain range
under
>> those conditions, than they just might be the most dangerous gear in your
>> pack.
>>
>> - P178
>>
>> "This year the Idyllwild area has had its highest snow fall in 40 years,
and
>> the area John was last seen in had approximately 3 ft. of snow and the
>> weather report, (which John knew about) for that night was that a storm
was
>> coming in. Other PCT hikers came into Idyllwild for shelter from the
storm."
>>
>> http://www.rmru.org/missions/2005/2005-017.html
>>
>>
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