Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Missing hiker, Mt Langley area: body found

Condolences to everyone close to Tom in your sorrow over this tragedy.

I am so sorry for your loss. I will be praying for you and his family.

Very sad.

How very sad this news is. I only had the opportunity to meet Tom once on group hike in the East Bay but I will miss him even so. Thank you so much for the efforts put forth by the eight groups I saw listed that put in their time for searching and finding Tom. Condolences to his wife and family. Bye Tom.

That is so sad.

Video from a Fresno station here.

Page dedicated to the memory of Thomas Heng

I hate hearing he lost his life.....this is so sad...When we go for a hike it is a thing of beauty..not sadness...its not fair..

News reports say he was found below (Old) Army Pass. I recall a woman died about the same area three or four summers ago. She was waiting for her group to climb and return from Mt Langley, and must have tried to descend AP on her own.

And now Tom Heng died the same place. Pretty dangerous place!

This SFGate news article from 7/24 reports, "Heng became separated from two other hikers, one of whom reached the summit and saw Heng climbing up as he descended down from the summit."

I just don't understand why so many people go off and leave others in their group behind. It might not have helped Tom H, but at least the search wouldn't have been necessary.

As with the other more or less other finger-pointing comments that folow the article: it is unfair/irresponsible to suggest any wrongdoing on the part of the hiking buddies without knowing any of the facts. I have hiked with the most responsible SAR members, and it was perfectly agreeable for us to break into pace groups -- or alone in my case -- when closing in on the summit. We are not talking about an inexperienced newbie "abandoned" on the trail.

My condolences to both the family AND the friends who mourn the loss of Tom.

Very sad. I've been on three Mt Langley hikes taking me above 12000 ft and I remember seeing some sketchy conditions towards the tops of the passes and worrying if I'd make it. If one is affected with AMS, switchbacks can be treacherous.

However, I'd wait till we get more details. If memory serves me right, when the area is snow-free, Old Army Pass is safer than New Army Pass, it's considerably shorter, and, even if you slip and fall, it's hard to imagine that you'd stay unnoticed for three days in the midst of a full scale search.

Very bad news - condolences to Tom's family and friends. I was hoping he'd be found with maybe a bum leg and a case of the shivers, but sadly not.

The meet-up itinerary had them going up and over NAP and returning the same way. If he was found at AP, I wonder if that irritating uphill pull on the return over NAP caused him to deviate? He certainly wouldn't have been the first to bypass it by going to AP instead, especially since the snow is virtually gone.

Most meetups are just that...you meet up at the trailhead and go at your own pace. There are no leaders, only organizers. It is not unusual for people to be separated by as much as six to eight hour on a high this long. These are not highly organized trip you would find at the Sierra Club.

The person who died on Army Pass a few years ago did so on a snow choked Army Pass, not the a clear of snow Army Pass we have today. They are two different animals.

Only Mr. Heng knows why he chose Army Pass for the descent. It certainly is easier overall but there are two little light class 3 sections that will not bother most. As most know, the trails from Army and New Army Pass meet up at Cottonwood Creek at the 10,470' level.

Based on information available, this appears to be very sad accident...a slip or a fall, that could not have been prevented.

I was on the MMWT on the same day that Mr. Heng was at Mt Langley. I can't attest to the weather at Langley, but if it was anything like Whitney, there would have been heavy rain, hail, lightning, thunder....

If I was up high, I'd be looking to get lower pretty quickly. Hell, I was at 10,000' and I was looking to get lower pretty quickly.

That sucks... My condolences to his friends and family.

This article was published in the July 28th edition of the Ridgecrest Daily Independent:

"CLMRG assists in two rescues

China Lake Mountain Res­cue Group volunteers partic­ipated in two joint search­and- rescue operations with Inyo County Search and Res­cue in the past week.

According to a CLMRG press release, the first was July 19 when CLMRG re­sponded to the Mt. Whitney trail for 45-year-old Viven Tran, who had separated from her party while day climbing the 14,505-foot peak and failed to return to the trail head.

The team started up the trail at 1:30 a.m. July 20 and found the subject at the 12,000-foot elevation before sunrise. Tran reportedly had taken the wrong trail and de­scended incorrectly to the west. Once realizing her mis­take she turned around and ascended back to east. Al­though cold and tired, she was able to hike down on her own.

The team also responded to a request from Inyo County July 24 to assist in a search for another missing hiker, 31­year-old Thomas Heng of San Rafael. He was reportedly climbing the 14,042-foot Mt. Langley southwest of Lone Pine July 22, when he did not return. Teams from CLM­RG, Inyo, Sierra Madre, Mon­trose, San Dimas, Sequoia and Yosemite search and res­cues either hiked-in or were flown via Park Service helicop­ters to the subject's last known location near the summit to conduct the search. Heng's body was discovered July 25 near the 11,500-foot eleva­tion. SAR team members con­verged on the accident site, confirmed the victims identi­ty, and subsequently arranged a helicopter from Sequoia/Kings Canyon to pick up the victim using a 200-foot long line. The death, from an apparent fall, is still under investigation.

China Lake Mountain Res­cue Group is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization affili­ated with the Kern County Sheriff 's Office and a member of the Mountain Rescue Asso­ciation."

Some more details from the San Anselmo Fairfax patch.

"Deputy Jeff Mullenhour, an investigator with the Southern Region of the Inyo County coroner's office, said Heng's body was found 300 feet from a ledge around 5 p.m. "

The JMT junction strikes again. People really want to go down at that point, regardless of whether the scenery is completely different from what they saw on the ascent.

Bulldog,

Over the years I have stopped about half dozen people from heading down there on their ascents while I was getting my gear together at Lower Trail Crest.

A lot of this is solved by spending a few dollars and studying a map. This is not a trip I go into a new area that I do not study the map before I go.

Kind of what I thought about Thomas Heng. So sad.

The CLMRG assisted in the finding Mr. Heng, and in the subsequent recovery. Bob R has posted pictures from the operation here:

2012-07-25 Tom Heng Search

He was found about in the center of this picture, well away from the snow chute.



Here's a shot of (old) Army Pass, where he fell.




There was stormy weather that afternoon, so that or darkness may have played a part in the most unfortunate accident.

Mr. Heng was from San Rafael, and the Marin Independent Journal published the picture below.

Here's the article:

Autopsy on San Rafael hiker shows massive head trauma, no foul play

Caption: "Tom Heng seen with his wife Petra. Searchers comb(ed) Sequoia National Park for the San Rafael
man who disappeared after a day hike on Sunday, July 22, 2012. (Photo provided by the Heng family)"