http://www.kaweahcommonwealth.com/07-15-05-2features.htm - about mid page you find:
Fateful journey:
The life and times
of a Sierra backpacker
He was discovered because of hikers who saw his red backpack floating in Evolution Lake and reported it to Bob Kenan, a Kings Canyon National Park backcountry ranger. Bob, who has been stationed at various posts in the backcountry of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for more than 30 seasons, is stationed this year at the McClure Meadow Ranger Station along the John Muir/Pacific Crest Trail, about five miles from the lake.
As was reported in the July 1 issue of The Kaweah Commonwealth, the backpack was too far out in the partially-frozen lake for Bob to retrieve, so he radioed for assistance. Rangers, equipped for a dip in ice water, were flown in the next morning and discovered this was more than a recovery of someone's pack because there was a body attached to it.
The body was retrieved and delivered to the Fresno County Coroner and identified as Peter Spoecker, age 64, of Joshua Tree. End of story, right?
Not so fast. As I wrote the story that week, the victim's name — Peter Daniel Spoecker — sounded hauntingly familiar, but I couldn't quite place it... a musician, perhaps? But I was on a deadline and didn't have time to research this hunch.
Another item that nagged at me long after the story was published was the fact that Ranger Bob noted that the last entry in the logbook at Evolution Lake was June 13, suggesting that this was when Peter arrived there, yet his body was not discovered until two weeks later on June 27.
In answer to my question, the local Park Service information officer responded that there were no reports of overdue hikers in the parks. But she did verify that the backpacker was well-equipped for the current snowy conditions.
An Internet search revealed that there is a musician and music producer named Peter Spoecker, who specializes in making and playing the didgeridoo, an indigenous musical instrument of Australian Aborigines. Upon discovering his website, I was able to determine that this Peter Spoecker was also from Joshua Tree and in the same age range as the Kings Canyon backpacker.
After a couple of tries, I made contact with Grahm and Trish of The Didgeridoo Store in Oakhurst.
"Yes, it is the same Peter Spoecker," they replied sadly. "We are still in shock about his passing as he was a very dear friend, like family to us."
When asked why Peter would not have been reported as overdue when he failed to return as scheduled from his backcountry trip, they explained: "Peter would always go out hiking for weeks at a time, sometimes coming home from trips early and sometimes extending his trips without notice."
"We never thought anything of it when he was two weeks late on his 'scheduled' return from this trip," they continued.
Although an official cause of death has not yet been released, Peter most likely drowned or succumbed to hypothermia after falling through ice into the lake.
According to his trip itinerary, filed when he obtained his backcountry permit from Inyo National Forest, Peter set out from North Lake in Inyo County. He would have traveled southwest on-trail to Lower Lamarck Lake, then cross-country to Lamarck Col, a pass that, at 12,900 feet above sea level, would have required 3,500 vertical feet of scrambling over snow and ice.
Still off-trail, he then descended into Darwin Canyon before meeting up with the John Muir Trail on the north end of Evolution Lake — often described as one of the most beautiful locales in all of the Sierra — and directly beneath Mount Darwin, which, at 13,830 feet elevation, is the highest summit in the area.
