I remember that op. A park service ranger was investigating a pile of bear scat near a lake to the west of Kearsage Pass, and found a zipper in the scat. That find prompted a renewed search near the pass. His ice-axe was also found near the top of the pass. A ranger had encountered him on the trail and described him as lightly clothed for the possible conditions (I recall temps in the low twenties at Mammoth main lodge that night).
Our failure to find his body during the initial search was puzzling, since we had even employed the use of a search dog, which found nothing. The searh went as far afield as Dragon Pass, which Pat Eliot and I climbed (and renamed it Draggin' Ass Pass).
Seems a hungry ursa had feasted on the remains.
