Tahquitz Drainage - mission failed

[Andy]

Great TR wb, thanks for sharing.

[lilbitmo]

Because I was doing section hiking when he disappeared it always struck me as one of the truly sad stories of a fellow hiker disappearing.

The things that always left me wondering what happened is how he ended up on the east side of the mountians when he was at or near Saddle Junction when last seen by two female hikers as the storm exploded into a full blown white out and they did their best to convince him to go down Devil's slide (from what I've read, if you have better information please share it) and get out of the storm? The PCT heads north and west from there and you cannot see Palm Srpings from there and especially not during that type of storm?

Once on the other side of the mountains why did he want to try to keep moving east when North is the desired direction for the PCT? This part always baffeled me?

The rescue of the two lost hikers which lead SAR to go back to find Donovan's body summarized that he fell to his death but was not wearing his pack or any of his equipment and that he had set up a camp as the two rescued folks from Texas did not see his body, so I'm wondering why everyone is concluding that he in fact tried to continue to down climb the various canyons being mentioned here, the body was discovered when the SAR folks identified who's pack it was and they went back to investigate, if he wasn't wearing the pack or equipment at the time his actual body was discovered would suggest he may have realized his mistake of going down that particular canyon to far and was thinking of ways to get out or go back up?

Regardless, what an epic trip through those canyons WP, thanks for trying to figure out the last part of his journey, that one has always baffeled me to the point of thinking something happend to him "like a mild heart attack" of something that disorientated him (besides the storm) to put him all the way across the wilderness heading in the completely wrong direction - heading downhill instead of uphill, he had maps and should have had a basic understanding that he was going east? It sure would be nice to know more?

Nice work, looking forward to more information.

[Rick Kent]

Sounds like a cool place for a canyoneering trip. Glad you didn't get into trouble. You didn't by chance see any webbing anchors around trees or rocks did you? I've wanted to go down that canyon for some time. Seems like I've heard from a friend of a friend whose done it but I have no info. This makes me more interested in getting in there. So what's the deal with access? Can one get permission from the Indians?

[guest]

Great TR wb, you had to keep you head together I'm sure, it can get pretty easy to let the feeling of desperation creep in, and having to call for help, if that's even an option can way heavy.
I applaud you for admitting the big risk you took & the warning people against this type of solo travel in this terrain, (even with someone, it can be deadly).

I have to agree with Hal, I have the feeling the Texan couple, (if most of the show "I shouldn't be Alive is factual), and from the accounts I've read & heard, that Donavon & these 2 must have been in Long Valley Creek drainage. They could not have made it to Carumba in the time they had, and from Hidden fork it would have been almost impossible to here people at the tram as they mentioned.

Now maybe, in the 3-4 days they were lost, they descended 2,500 ft. to the junction of Long Valley drainage & Hidden Fork were they meet, in which case Donovan may have been down there, but that would have required some nasty terrain like you encountered, highly unlikely for 2 with little climbing experience.

you trek was amazing, I know how relieving finding a trail can be.
I've come up from a ridge just north of Andreas Cyn (part of the old Gordon tr.), to Carumba, but stayed clean of those foreboding canyons.

ss

[bluerail]

I've stared at that upper part of that canyon from a ways off, all I saw was death. Not me brother.

[wb]

WB, strong damn work dude! That was one amazing effort, and to do it solo is testament to the stern stuff that you are made of. I know how hard it was cause back in the mid 70's my climbing buddies Mike and Keith and I hiked up Tahquitz canyon to Idyllwild. It is one of those "march or die" kind of experiences that I look back on in wonder now. In high school we had always heard of the seven falls of Tahquitz, and they took on a kind of Shangri-La type mystique in our adolescent minds. My friends and I had been going up there since jr. high and were familar with the first and second falls. In late spring we decided to go explore. We got above the first falls and encountered the naked hippie guys and girls hanging out... literally. (Hey it was the 70's) After talking with them for awhile, we pushed on. Above the 3rd or 4th falls we ran into an old hippie village that was left over from the 60's when the hippies took over Palm Springs in 68 or 69. There was one poor addled soul who was so stoned, he probably thought we were space aliens. We pushed on and spent the night camped out next to the creek. The next morning we continued on and each succeding waterfall became harder and harder to get around. Finally at about 3800 feet, we came to a point where the canyon split. From Acme maps...
http://mapper.acme.com/
it is where Hidden Fork Creek and Tahquitz Creek come together. We realized that we could spend days in those canyons trying to get out, and that there wasn't seven falls in Tahquitz canyon, but rather dozens. Rather than turn around, (which would have been the smart thing) we went straight up the ridge between the two creeks. We spent the next six to eight hours doing the nastiest bushwacking that I have ever done in my life. We ran out of water and spent hours going over, under, and through that nasty shit. We topped out over the ridgeline and found a muddy little trickle that we litteraly stuck our lips into and sucked dry. Shortly after we found the trail to Carumba in the last light of the day, and made our way down to Idylwild in the dark. It is something that I haven't thought about in a long time, and your TR has jogged my Alzheimers encrusted synapses. Thank you for that, and congrats.

Sincerely

Skunk

PS. The largest rattler that I ever saw, was in that canyon. We could hear him from a hundred yards away. I caught a glimpse of him between the bushes and a rock wall. Couldn't tell how long he was, but he looked as thick as my leg.

Thanks Skunk <g>. I am reasonably sure that the last camp spot of John Donovan is approx. 600' up from the mapper pin. One wonders how the hippies might have gotten deep into the canyon? Based upon the recounting of your experience with Tahquitz, I'm thinking that we must be related. Wonderful story!

[neverwashasbeen]

Rick, to the best of my knowledge the Indians do not allow anyone above the first falls.

[wb]

Lilbitmo: Because I was doing section hiking when he disappeared it always struck me as one of the truly sad stories of a fellow hiker disappearing.

<wb> His disappearance rocked the hiking community, and sends ripples even still.

Lilbitmo: The things that always left me wondering what happened is how he ended up on the east side of the mountians when he was at or near Saddle Junction when last seen by two female hikers as the storm exploded into a full blown white out and they did their best to convince him to go down Devil's slide (from what I've read, if you have better information please share it) and get out of the storm? The PCT heads north and west from there and you cannot see Palm Srpings from there and especially not during that type of storm?

<wb> first hand testimony indicates that Donovan was duly warned and chose to ignore the advice. There was 3 feet of snow on the flats and meteorologists were predicting a heavy storm. Donovan carried a portable radio and would have heard the weather reports. Before getting lost, he camped with Connie Davis and her son, Alex (as well as a few others). Based on her recollections, Donovan was ill-prepared and unteachable. (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=9052). Bill Donohue’s article points out that Donovan made it as far as the footstep to Fuller Ridge, where he ran into Duane Steiner et al, who warned him against proceeding towards Fuller Ridge due to the weather. (http://billdonahue.net/2006/10/) At this point, Donovan takes the advice and turns around. He must have gotten lost on the way to Saddle Junction and crossed the flats to the eastern ridge, where he would have been seduced by the lights of Palm Springs to attempt the drainages.

Lilbitmo: Once on the other side of the mountains why did he want to try to keep moving east when North is the desired direction for the PCT? This part always baffeled me?

<wb> Donovan was well known for a poor since of direction. I believe that a combination of coldness, deteriorating weather and panic colluded against Donovan, undermining his judgment.

Lilbitmo: The rescue of the two lost hikers which lead SAR to go back to find Donovan's body summarized that he fell to his death but was not wearing his pack or any of his equipment and that he had set up a camp as the two rescued folks from Texas did not see his body, so I'm wondering why everyone is concluding that he in fact tried to continue to down climb the various canyons being mentioned here, the body was discovered when the SAR folks identified who's pack it was and they went back to investigate, if he wasn't wearing the pack or equipment at the time his actual body was discovered would suggest he may have realized his mistake of going down that particular canyon to far and was thinking of ways to get out or go back up?

<wb> according to journal entries Donovan made, he was heading to the creek to get water. “In his last entry, dated May 14, he scribbled that he was going down to Long Creek for water. “Goodbye and love you all,” he wrote.” (http://billdonahue.net/2006/10/). RSAR personnel theorized that he slipped and fell to his death: “We think he may have slipped from the top of the waterfall and died in the fall.” (http://www.rmru.org/missions/2006/2006-06-04.html). Donovan was fighting to survive, but hopelessly trapped in this drainage.

Lilbitmo: Regardless, what an epic trip through those canyons WP, thanks for trying to figure out the last part of his journey, that one has always baffeled me to the point of thinking something happend to him "like a mild heart attack" of something that disorientated him (besides the storm) to put him all the way across the wilderness heading in the completely wrong direction - heading downhill instead of uphill, he had maps and should have had a basic understanding that he was going east? It sure would be nice to know more?

<wb> Perhaps the toughest thing to do in a very tough situation is to keep a cool head. As mentioned earlier, I believe that, understandably, Donovan panicked. It appears that he failed to consult his map and compass, and read his surroundings. He had no cell phone, and conditions were most certainly close to white-out. His gear appears to have been completely inadequate, preventing him the option of setting up shop where he was and waiting out the storm. Just one mistake after another after another…

lilbitmo: Nice work, looking forward to more information.[/quote]
<wb> Thanks bro. I hope this helps.

[lilbitmo]

WB, yes that fills in the blanks nicely, I had read some of that shortly after the two hikers were rescued and the SAR team went back to find the body but it had been a long time ago and was crazy busy today with contractor fixing leak in my house, so I didn't have the time to go back through everything, I do remember the first group advising him to head down, but I do not remember reading his second encounter with Duane Steiner at Fuller Ridge, that explains more to me now then all the rest.

Having made the decision to turn back at that point it's easy to understand the mistake of heading southeasterly back towards Saddle Junction and with that much snow on the ground it's easy to have missed the turn in the snow and he just kept moving towards the eastern side - makes much more since to me now. Thanks for adding that piece.

I do faintly recall that he was ill equipped and that he was heading to get water when he fell. If only he had taken a day in Idyllwild until the storm had passed or a detour around, what could have been?

I've helped another couple doing a thru hike that made the proper choice to turn back from the Red Tahquitz area during the major snow season in 2005, they could not find their way to Saddle Junction and had to retrace their own snow tracks for at least a mile until my friend and I came across them, we kindly had them follow us all the way across that section of the wilderness (I had just bought a new GPS and had used it twice before in storm conditions) to Saddle Junction, they listened, they followed and they made it with us to Humber Park. We then gave them a ride to town where they made the choice to bypass Fuller Ridge a day later. They had that look in their eyes when we encountered them that all adventures get when thry are caught between wanting to make it on their own without help and making the choice to take help - I was glad to help them and they finished their thru hike safely, it was a wise decision to take the help - it's just sad that Donovan had two different groups attempt to get him to make a good decision and he made the decision to go it alone with a major storm coming. Hopefully others can learn from this.

Once again I (and I'm sure others) appreciate your attempt to get more answers about the last day and route he took, I like being a student of great adventures, whether they have successful outcomes or not. One of my favorite books is "Deep Survival" by Louis Gonzalez and he talks at length about how simple choices compound themselves when we make the wrong choices and how quickly they become life threatening when we keep making wrong choices.

Great job making good decisions on your own adventure and thanks for sharing that adventure with us and why you were doing it. Hope to run into you out there sometime - it's such a nice area, one of my favorites.

[kd]

wb,

Wow great trip report.
I was all over Tahquitz Canyon in high school. Looking for the holy grail of 7 falls to the top. That canyon is so distinct in what it has to offer. Huge rocks, rock walls, water falls, pools. Just beautiful.

I always wanted to go the entire distance, it just wasnt possible.

--Kevin