The red ring shows the coordinates recorded by Paul Duer of PLS (campsite), a bit north of the KCRA report
This is a venue for El Dorado SAR members to provide fill-in information and first-hand accounts of specific previous searches. After SAR302 posts the first item about a recent search, any SAR member is invited to add their comments/observations/feelings/experience as it relates to said search. The postings are then edited and posted to the ESARC website (edsar.org) for public viewing.
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On Saturday morning at app. 8:30am the EDSAR Mounted unit represented by SAR members, Tom and Sheila Feil, Chris and Cindy Walker, Sherry Clawson,and Jamie Thompson rode out of the Bay View Trail head just south of the Eagle Falls Trailhead. We proceeded up the trail app. 1 1/2 miles past Granite Lake. We were going up a steep grade and were just south of Eagle Lake on the BayView trail when snow in the trail proved to treacherous for the equines. There were 3 mules, and 3 horses in the group.We then turned around and continued to search the sides of the trail for clues. We returned to the trailhead where Bill Adams arrived to debrief us.
Hi Alan,
Not sure how to post this but it is a good story from today's Lincoln News Messenger.
Two Lincoln Hills men die on Tahoe camping trip
Best friends, neighbors had planned two-day expedition
By Liz Kellar The News Messenger
Courtesy
Thomas Hylton
Tom Hylton was "like a little boy," he was so happy to be planning a camping trip with his best friend, neighbor Jerome "Jerry" Smith. The two set out June 2 for what was to be a two-day backpacking trip to prepare for a longer, 12-day trip later this fall.
The men lived just a few houses away from each other in Sun City Lincoln Hills and had planned to hike to Velma Lakes from Eagle Falls.
But when the pair did not return the evening of June 4, their wives grew worried and called for help.
Late that night, El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, Lake Tahoe Station, sent a ground team and helicopter search out, but found no trace of the missing hikers.
Early Friday morning, El Dorado County Search & Rescue volunteers discovered their campsite a mile south of Eagle Lake – and the body of Hylton, 70.
The search for Smith continued with allied support from the Air Unit of the California Highway Patrol, assistance from the Forest Service, and the Sheriff's Office South Lake Tahoe Search and Rescue Unit.
Smith's body was located at approximately noon Saturday near the steep shores of Eagle Lake. It appeared that Smith, 78, fell in his attempt to hike out and obtain help for his friend. Autopsies revealed that Hylton died of a heart attack, while Smith likely died of exposure.
Hylton's wife, Irene, said Monday he had no health problems and worked out frequently.
"He was not a risk taker," she said. "He was a very experienced hiker, he had been to Desolation Wilderness four or five times. He was going to show Jerry what to do … If he wasn't feeling well, he would never have risked Jerry's life."
The Hyltons were fairly recent transplants to Lincoln Hills, she said, having moved to the area from Santa Clara approximately five years ago. The couple had been married for 30 years, the second marriage for both.
"He was amazing – he would help anyone that needed help," Irene Hylton said. "He was my rock. He was my best friend."
When Tom retired, Irene Hylton said, he went back to nature – planning and executing a beautiful backyard oasis on their home's sloped lot and going on backpacking trips.
"He loved the yard he created," she said. "He wasn't a gardener until we moved here."
Tom Hylton and Jerry Smith had become good friends in the last year, she added. The two were to go on a longer expedition after Labor Day; this trip was a dry run of sorts.
"They planned everything together – they were so happy, like little boys," Irene Hylton said.
"They died doing what they loved," she added. "That's what (Tom) would have wanted. He wouldn't have wanted to die in a hospital – and he was with his best friend. Maybe God knew."
According to his wishes, Tom Hylton will be cremated. A small private service will be held in the backyard that was his labor of love.
Irene Hylton and Jerome Smith's wife, Norma, asked any memorial donations in their husbands' names be made to El Dorado Search and Rescue.
"They did a fantastic job of looking for them," Irene Hylton said.
Smith's son, Stuart, drove from Reno to take part in the search effort. Like Irene Hylton, he had nothing but praise for the Search & Rescue team, saying their efforts were extraordinary.
"My dad was in good shape, he had prepared (for the trip)," Stuart Smith said. "He was going to be fine physically, they were extremely well-prepared."
According to Stuart, his father's autopsy showed no broken bones or head trauma.
"He didn't make it through the cold weather," Smith said.
"It was freezing every night," said El Dorado County Sheriff Lt. Les Lovell. "There still is quite a bit of snow in that area."
Lovell said searchers estimated both men probably both died June 2, the first night of the trip.
"The volunteers, they're the heart and the soul of the unit," Lovell said. "Everyone was disappointed – everyone was hoping to find Mr. Smith alive. We did our very best."
Lovell added that authorities believe after Hylton sustained the heart attack, Smith went for help in the dark.
"His buddy did the best he could," he said. "He took his sandals off, put his boots on and beat feet out of there. But there was no moon out, and it's very rugged country."
Smith apparently lost his footing, tumbling 40 feet down a hillside near Eagle Lake.
"It was two friends' dream gone tragic," Stuart Smith said.
Smith had moved his family to Rocklin in 1966; the couple moved to Lincoln Hills after he retired.
"He was the ambassador of the neighborhood," Stuart Smith said.
It was his decades in Rocklin that spurred Smith's involvement in the ongoing fight to preserve Clover Valley, his son said.
"We lived on Argonaut, right on the golf course," Stuart Smith explained. "They kept extending (the development) over the years. That was one thing he fought against, developers taking over Clover Valley."
Stuart Smith said his father played tennis at UCLA and was an "avid" tennis player his whole life.
"He was very involved in the professional tennis tournament at Del Oro (the USTA Pro Circuit Tennis Tournament at Del Oro High School, now through Sunday)," Stuart Smith said. "He was working on getting housing for the players and he was working hard on getting sponsorship for the event."
Jerome Smith caddied on many occasions for his son, who was a pro golfer. In his study, a series of photos show him caddying for Stuart at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am; an oil painting depicting the two on the golf course was a gift from Stuart to his dad on Father's Day.
"He was going to play more golf when he couldn't play tennis anymore," Stuart said. "My dad and I were really close, we were best friends … I wouldn't trade that bond for anything."
The family is planning a private graveside ceremony at Rocklin Cemetery June 20. A celebration of life for friends will be held at the Smith's home from 3-6 p.m. Saturday, June 21.
Memorial contributions can be made to the El Dorado Search & Rescue Council, a non-profit corporation whose mission is to support the El Dorado County Sheriff's volunteer search and rescue team.
Donations can be mailed to El Dorado Search & Rescue, P.O. Box 721,
Placerville, CA 95667, Federal Tax ID (FEIN): 68-0097526.
According to the council's Web site, it raises approximately $8,000 annually. All ESARC money goes to benefit Search and Rescue.
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