Maverick posted a followup including several pictures from Larry's iphone from the day he apparently died on Taboose Pass.
Here's the link:
Follow Up InfoSummarizing:
Larry took this picture at the Bench Lake/JMT junction:
His iphone recorded date and time as well as gps location with each picture.
2 1/2 hours later, about noon, he took this picture near the top just west of Taboose Pass:
His camp and his remains were found very near the location of the last picture.
Maverick wrote:
It was about noon when Larry made it to the top of Taboose Pass, why didn’t he continue down to the safety of lower elevations? Were conditions so bad, visibility wise, that he felt it to be to dangerous to continue? Temps were in the 20s, hypothermia could have been an issue (made a point to re-reading all medical information related to hypothermia), especially with the intense hiking over the fresh snowy terrain would have caused him to get wet from sweat allowing the heat to radiate from his body over time. With temp in the 20s he would have been breathing in cold air further lowering his core temp, then add in the high wind increasing the chill factor. After enough heat was lost to his brain he would no longer functioning properly and he would not have noticed that he was shivering severely, muscles would become stiff, he would have slowed down moving less, and less, possibly having enough energy to set up his tent, attempted to warm up with several layers of clothing, got into his sleeping bag, and fell into a stupor from which he never woke up. This scenario may or may not be what happened, but with no evidence it is my best guess.
Hopefully we all can learn something from this tragic incident, being conservative in our abilities when it comes to emergency situations is possible the safest avenue to take when it comes to survival. Understanding and especially educating ourselves about the importance of seeking shelter instead of exposing ourselves to the severe outside environments can be the difference between life and death. Understand the BIG 3 rules of survival, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food, our chances of survival diminish, and these numbers drop substantially in extreme conditions.
