My great friend, Dick McIntosh, passed away this morning after fighting bone cancer for the past 3 years. Dick, known in our crowd as “The Big Dick” (he was 6’5"), and Bob Owen, another or our backpacking group, took me on my first trip back in 1981 in Yosemite, a 50-mile loop of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River to Glen Aulin, then circling around to Ten Lakes before landing back at the beginning. It almost killed me.
Dick was a veteran backpacker who had hiked for more than 30 years in the Smokies, Ozarks, Rockies, but mainly the Sierra’s and, particularly, Yosemite. In October, 1985 we did the 55-mile Red Peak Pass loop. It was during this trip that we passed Bob Owen and our other friend Dan Eimers at Merced Lake (they had left the trail to find a campsite - don’t even ask)) and ended up 9-miles away in Little Yosemite Valley. We had the tents and the stoves. They had the tent poles and the fuel and were still back at Merced Lake. So my first experience in Little Yosemite Valley (notorious bear country) was sleeping out in a cold mist of an October night. Dick broke out his Coleman lantern (he always subscribed to the “go heavy” philosophy of backpacking) and with very little fuel, the lantern burned all night (the miracle lantern) and kept the bears away.
Our last trip was in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in 2001. We set out on Sept. 9. Two days later we were tucked away in the back country having a glorious day of hiking. We would not know for 3 more days what had happened on 9/11. We would soon learn, however, about Dick’s condition.
Dick loved backpacking and the wilderness. He fought the good fight. But today he had no more fight left in him.
I was reminded how I take too many things for granted. Enjoy every moment with your family and your friends. Life is fleeting.
Sherpa Steve
Sherpa Steve