Sierra Hiker Missing Since 2003
Martha Claassen sent me an email last week concerning her husband, Fred Claassen, who disappeared in the Hoover Wilderness Area north of the Tioga Pass entrance to Yosemite during the summer of 2003.
Fred Claassen, 46, entered the Hoover Wilderness from Twin Lakes on Thursday, July 31, 2003. His itinerary was to hike by trail to Crown Lake, over Mule and Burro passes, returning to Twin Lakes cross-country via Matterhorn Pass and the Horse Creek drainage. He was due back Monday, August 4, 2003. Hikers reported seeing him on the afternoon of Friday, August 1, 2003 at Crown Lake. He has not been heard from since. The search area includes the Robinson Creek drainage (Barney, Peeler, Robinson, Crown, and Snow Lakes area), the Horse Creek Drainage, and the northern part of Yosemite National Park between Mule Pass, Burro Pass, and the Matterhorn.
Martha is looking for any clues from hikers who have been in the area. Read more here: Missing Hiker: Fred Claassen. The link includes additional information, a list of gear than Fred was carrying, and contact informaton in case you have any information to offer.
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A Long Pack Trip Coming Up
Later this summer I and a group of friends will do the longest pack trip I’ve done in a number of years – 14 days on the trail between Agnew Meadow and South Lake. I can’t wait!
I did three trips of approximately this duration a number of years ago. The first two were with my wife, who no longer backpacks. On the first we spent 13 days – if memory serves – travelling the route from near Morro Rock in Sequoia National Park, over Kaweah Gap, down to the Kern River, up Wallace Creek, to the top of Mt. Whitney, and then out at Whitney Portal.
Later we did another equally long trip together. This one started at Florence (or is it Edison? ;-) Lake and entered Kings Canyon National Park. We climbed up into Evolution Basin, crossed Muir Pass and dropped into Le Conte Canyon, then climbed the Golden Staircase to Palisade Lake, crossed Mather Pass, dropped down the other side and then climbed again to Pinchot Pass, descended to Woods Creek, and aborted our planned route past Rae Lakes and over Glen Pass, instead descending through Paradise Valley (?) to Kings Canyon. It rained. A lot.
The next long trip was also my first solo. Yes, my first solo trip was two weeks long… ;-) I started out in Sequoia and headed towards Kaweah Gap, but left the main route and climbed up and over Elizabeth Pass before eventually descending to Bubbs Creek. I had been unsure of whether I would continue as I dropped down into the canyon, but when I got there I turned right (left would have taken me to Kings Canyon in a few miles) and headed up over Glen Pass, descended past Rae Lakes, and finally exited (once again) via Paradise Valley.
Since those trips, my longest pack trip has been last year’s 9 day trip from South Lake to Onion Valley. (Lot’s of high passes!) I love the long trips. Even though I adapt to the trail and go into “mountain mode” quite quickly these days (it takes, oh, maybe 32 seconds…) things change after 5 or 6 days on the trail. There is a wonderful point at which you lose track of days and the outside world and you simply live from day to day and moment to moment, taking it all in as it comes.
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My Photography Site
Since I’m not always terribly selective about what photos I post on this web site – in may cases I post ’em as I take ’em – I have started another site where I will post my favorites: G Dan Mitchell Photography.
(Why the “G” you ask? I found a web site of a Canadian photographer named Dan Mitchell – who does some nice work – and thought that I would do this to avoid confusion. “Dan” is derived from my real middle name and my real first name starts with the letter “G.”)
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Remembrance of Things Future: The Mystery of Time
A bit off-topic, but I love this stuff. Remembrance of Things Future: The Mystery of Time in the New York Times:
When it comes to the nature of time, physicists are pretty much at as much of a loss as the rest of us who seem hopelessly swept along in its current. The mystery of time is connected with some of the thorniest questions in physics, as well as in philosophy, like why we remember the past but not the future, how causality works, why you can’t stir cream out of your coffee or put perfume back in a bottle.
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Missing Hiker: Fred Claassen
(From a message from Martha Claassen.)
Hello Mr. Mitchell,
I came upon your site surfing the Tioga Rd. situation. I was drawn into it to see your photos of the Sawtooth Ridge, an area that has a great deal of meaning to me. The photo of the irises in the Bridgeport Valley is indeed a postcard view.
I have copied into the body of this letter the text from a poster regarding my husband Fred, a serious non-professional photographer and environmental sound recordist, who’s been missing in the Hoover Wilderness since 2003. My hope is that an aware backpacker like yourself will someday find a clue that will help me, and the Mono Co. and YNP Search authorities, find him this year. I would deeply appreciate it if you could alert anyone you know that may be heading into the area to the news of a missing person out there. The deep snows are going to give us a short season to search, if the passes ever clear. I have the poster as a JPG with a good photo of Fred in full backpacking regalia, but I can’t see how to get it to you from this page. (I don’t have a website myself, I think I can only send it as an attachment.)
Fred and I were avid backpackers, though I started backpacking in 1969 in Lake Tahoe and he didn’t start until the 1990s. We were married in Yosemite Valley in 1999. We did many of the same trips I see on your site–Lamarck Col and the Darwin Bench, Evolution Valley, Onion Valley to Mt. Whitney (’01), 1000 Island lake, Ediza-Iceburg Lake and the Minarets, and the list goes on and on. In 2003 we did over 100 miles of trips in the desert and the Sierra. We had been home less than a week from a 10 day adventure in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, Fred had 2 days vacation left, so he decided to head for the Sawtooth Range (upon reading they were the northern extension of the Minarets, where we had just come from) to record the thunder storms that had been rolling through that week, and of course take photos. The rest of the story is contained in official reports, press releases and stories, and even a short TV news blurb on channel 5 News. Our home was/is in Livermore.
I’ll have this poster tacked up around Bridgeport and the eastern Sierra again this year. I’m heading that way next week. Again, I need all the help I can get letting people know tha a tripod or portable DAT recorder or walking stick lying around unattended in this area could be a valuable clue to his location, and should be reported. Thanks in advance for your help.
Happy trails,
Martha Claassen
| ***OVERDUE BACKPACKER STILL MISSING
Your help is needed! People hiking the High Sierra backcountry west Fred Claassen, 46, entered the Hoover Wilderness from Twin Lakes on Thursday, July 31, 2003. His itinerary was to hike by trail to Crown Lake, over Mule and Burro passes, returning to Twin Lakes cross-country via Matterhorn Pass and the Horse Creek drainage. He was due back Monday, August 4, ?03.. Hikers reported seeing him on the afternoon of Friday, August 1, ?03 at Crown Lake. He has not been heard from since. The search area includes the Robinson Creek drainage (Barney, Peeler, Robinson, Crown, and Snow Lakes area), the Horse Creek Drainage, and the northern part of Yosemite National Park between Mule Pass, Burro Pass, and the Matterhorn. Equipment you might find . The photo shows Claassen with typical backpacking gear.
Small clues can help–Please call Please report stray articles of clothing, unattended equipment, unusual odors, or anything you believe might be useful to: Mono Co. Sheriff’s Dept. at 760.932.7549 Any clues, however small, can help us focus the search. Thank you. |
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The Race to Alaska Before It Melts
New York Times: The Race to Alaska Before It Melts
A product of the late ice age, the glacier looked old and tired on this hot day. There was a sense of loss, some people said, at watching this giant recoil. There were oohs and aahs but also more hushed tones, expressions of fear that the big land was somehow diminished, a little less wild. Just a few years ago, the spot where these tourists stood, on dry ground marked by Park Service signs, had been under ice.
Alaska is changing by the hour. From the far north, where higher seas are swamping native villages, to the tundra around Fairbanks, where melting permafrost is forcing some roads and structures to buckle in what looks like a cartoon version of a hangover, to the rivers of ice receding from inlets, warmer temperatures are remaking the Last Frontier State.
Photo: Sunset, Lynn Canal near Juneau, Alaska. Copyright Dan Mitchell
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Summer is Here!
I know that summer actually started early last week, but today marks the beginning of my summer. I gave my last final exam yesterday and, although there is a bit of work left to do, I’m pretty much off now until mid-September.
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Dan's Outside 
ClaassenPhoto
Photo of missing hiker Fred Claassen.
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June 29, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on ClaassenPhoto