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Backpacker Magazine – October 2006
Lost & Found
John Donovan disappeared in a high-elevation blizzard, leaving rescuers and friends stumped. His backpack contained a miracle clue. Bill Donahue investigates.
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Tags:
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- Mysteries |
- California |
Now she was up above 7,000 feet, in a tank top and a windbreaker. Day returned after his unsuccessful reconnaissance mission, and the two sat and waited. "It made perfect sense to us," he says, "that rangers were out looking for us with flashlights and bullhorns."
At a spot several miles down-hill from them, exactly one year earlier, Donovan had less confidence. In his journal, he conceded that Ken Baker had been "the smart one." He regretted not heeding his advice about waiting, and told Baker he wanted to be buried in a Navy cemetery. On May 11, he celebrated his 60th birthday by eating two of his crackers.
In his last entry, dated May 14, he scribbled that he was going down to Long Creek for water. "Goodbye and love you all," he wrote.
The rangers never showed up, so in the morning, after shivering all night in the 45°F chill, Day and Allen decided to climb up San Jacinto to be more visible. The two made it almost to the summit, Day says, around noon. But they saw no one, and after yelling in vain for help, they made a snap decision. "We couldn't sleep there, up high, in the cold," says Day.
Riverside County SAR veteran Pete Carlson says Day and Allen should have followed a ridgeline down. "They'd be visible," he says, "and the descent would be gradual." Instead, they thrashed deeper into Long Valley, encountering an increasingly steep slope marred with gravel, weeds, and impassable boulders. Day, a chess player, tried to think "five moves ahead." But the mountain kept vexing them. At one point, he says, "We were going down this steep, gravelly slope, and I got to a 10-foot dropoff. I'm hanging onto a vine to ease down, and then I see this boulder tumbling at me. I swung out over the cliff, holding the vine, and the rock tumbled by."
They feared Long Creek was filled with microbes, but in time they drank from it to avoid dehydration. But they were famished. "By the third night," Day says, "we were running out of bullets."
Allen prayed. Raised Catholic, she prayed to St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, and to St. Anthony, the patron saint of the lost.
John Donovan would not likely have shrugged off this uncanny coincidence. He was not, at his core, a logical or technical person, and he saw the world as shaped by forces beyond reason. It's no surprise, really, that a man who was orphaned as a boy believed in the power of random luck, both good and bad, and in saints and the karmic value of doing good unto others. He also likely adhered to the notion of "trail magic"–a term thru-hikers use to explain the unexplainable good things that happen on a trail.
But Donovan also clearly figured out that good things don't just happen; you make them happen. And maybe some lingering thread of his generous spirit occupied Long Valley that day when Brandon Day spied a yellow backpack down below. The pair went to look. Inside, along with some clothes, was Donovan's journal, with an entry dated May 8. Allen was ecstatic. "He's got to be nearby," she said. "That's today!"
"But the entry was dated May 8, 2005," says Day. "Exactly a year before. It sank in that somebody died there. Mr. Donovan was prepared and he had supplies. But still, he didn't survive."
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You don't have his talent
You don't have his condition
You no applause
The world is not fair?
But you have the right to dream
Let the heart become your declaration
Let the wounds become your medal
Let the world's not fair in front of you down!
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John j. Donovan was a true marine. Rest in peace john
it still hurts...
Rest in Peace John Joseph Donovan. You are missed by so many, and will live on in the hearts and memories of those of us who knew, or knew of you.
ya I agree I also dont understand why if John donavan was such A big part of them surviving,why he didnt get recognized more,He evidently went through way more than mutt and jeff did.stay on the path dumby,thats what its for.
ya I agree I also dont understand why if John donavan was such A big part of them surviving,why he didnt get recognized more,He evidently went through way more than mutt and jeff did.stay on the path dumby,thats what its for.
Saw him on date from hell I shouldn't be alive
this is a very touching story.
im glad to have encountered it
The more hikers I meet, the more I am astonished to learn that many cannot read a topo map well, or even read that compass that they carry.
Yet they chant their misinformed, wrong headed, opinions that the PCT is "too well marked" for hikers to get into trouble.
If you don't know how to navigate, start practicing. Learning to use a compass is actually pretty easy once you wrap your thoughts around it.
A compass is considered the FIRST tool of navigation. The gps is considered the SECOND, or plan B, tool to use.
In a white out blizzard, you can't see. But you can use that compass (or gps) to find your way to some sort of safety such as a hut, or tool shed, or descending trail so that you don't have to bushwhack and die like Mr. Donovan.
Don't run your mouth and be the fool. If you can't navigate, great, but don't chant to others that they should risk their safety to satisfy your own foolish lack of skills.
Ozzy B. are you serious? Your funny! You said, "you go girl!" in response to hearing they broke up? It was two years later you moron! I almost think your comments were more shocking than that incredible story. My Gosh you suck.
Ozzy B. are you serious? Your funny! You said, "you go girl!" in response to hearing they broke up? It was two years later you moron! I almost think your comments were more shocking than that incredible story. My Gosh you suck.
This is the stupidest episode yet. Gina Allen was worried about her bad breath?! This is simply natural selection at play.
I watched that episode of "shouldn't be alive", and i have to concur. they should call that installment "almost to dumb to survive".
"Though he trekked 4,000 miles a year, he was in some ways an amateur."
Is there such a thing as a proffesional "Hiker"?
Very interesting and intriguing story. Jon Krakauer, where are you? There is a book to be written here.
Just saw this on Oprah's OWN network tonight, although this show is typically on the Animal Planet. I was totally floored by the couple finding Donovan's campsite and, supposedly his body (although someone states above that was inaccurately portrayed by the program). I had to google his name and found this article that provides many more interesting details about Donovan. The article really gives such a good portrayal of his eccentric character, which at times parallels that of my father's. I am glad his remains were found, and that he received a proper burial. John, may you continue to help lost hikers along that trail and out of that gorge. Rest in Peace.
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