Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Missing/Overdue Hiker in the Langley area

Sequoia/Kings N.P. just issued a notice: (News Releases page)

Picture here:  Overdue Hiker

THOMAS HENG
AGE: 31-years-old
HEIGHT: 6’0”
WEIGHT: 166 lbs.
EYES: Brown
HAIR: Short, black

IDENTIFYING FEATURES: Scar from left ear to base of neck PLUS large scar on left arm from elbow to wrist
LAST SEEN AT: Mt. Langley, at approx. 13,000 feet, on Sunday, July 22, 2012, at 1 p.m.

HIKING ROUTE INCLUDED: Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead through New Army Pass to the summit of Mt. Langley and back to Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead

TOM WAS LAST SEEN WEARING: White t-shirt, blue long pants, tan full-brimmed hat (in photo), and sunglasses (in photo), black hooded sweatshirt (on person), size 11 North Face mid-rise hiking shoes. .

IF YOU HAVE SEEN HIM: Please contact the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department at (760) 878-0383 OR Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks’ Dispatch at (559) 565-3195

Any update? Sorry to hear about this. My husband and I did this exact route last year up to Langley. It's a pretty straight forward hike. What happened to his other hiking companions? Hoping this thread has a happy ending. Sending prayers out for everyone's safety.

Hope things turn out OK.

On the same day (Sunday July 22) I hiked over Lamarck Col and ended up camping at the base of Mt Huxley in the Evolution Basin. There was an abundance of lightning, hail and rain which continued on into Monday. Nothing was straight forward in those conditions, even trying to sleep in a cave.

Did these conditions prevail in the Langley area as well? If so Thomas might have tried to hasten his departure from that exposed terrain by downclimbing one of the chutes and returning to the trail head cross country in the Cottonwood Lakes Basin by way of Muir Lake.

I went over Old Army Pass two weeks ago. The snow at the top was easily bypassed and would not be a problem if Thomas came back that way.

Hoping for the best,

Jim F

My heart goes out to Thomas and his family - I was just in the area 7/19 to 7/21 and had to keep reminding myself of the dangers in all of the beatuy.
God bless his family

Sorry to learn the sad news. Sincere condolences to Tom's family and friends. The work of the search teams is greatly appreciated.

Jim

Thoughts and prayers to the family and friends.

How sad. I am so sorry. My thoughts go to his family and many friends.

I just saw an update of the accident:

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/disasters/san-rafael-hiker-found-dead-inyo-national-forest-d/nP7bM/

Here is a partial excerp:
Thomas Heng, 31, died of "multiple traumatic fractures and hemorrhages due to a mountain hiking accident," Inyo County deputy coroner's investigator Jeff Mullenhour said.
Heng's body was found about 11,000 feet up on the 14,023-foot mountain, Mullenhour said.
"We have no way of knowing where he was before he was found," Mullenhour said. "We don't know how far he fell."
There was a ridge and ice in a crevasse above Heng's body, Mullenhour said.
"Whether he used it to come down, we don't know," Mullenhour said.

We have plans to hike Langley soon. Does anyone who has hike Langley knows of this area mentioned in the aritcle? Is there a spot along the trail that we need be extra careful? Any photo of this area.

My condolence for the family.

I hiked Langley via Army Pass (old army pass) this past weekend. The trail up army pass was completely free of any ice or snow. There is a small patch near the top of the pass, but it's nowhere near the trail. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...e=3&theater shows a photo of the pass. You can see the tiny snow patch in a gully, but the trail goes above and to the left of that patch. (if this doesn't work, let me know)

edited to add: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...e=3&theater here's a full on view of Army Pass from Sat 7/28

There is a chute just north of where the trail tops out on Old Army Pass. Given this new information my guess is that perhaps Mr. Heng mistakenly tried to descend this chute instead of where the trail is. The chute is a little steep and tends to hold snow/ice for some time. Without crampons/ice axe it would likely be dangerous to descend. This chute is often used in early summer (with crampons/ice axe) until the trail melts out. There may even be something that looks like a use trail leading to the top of the chute from hikers trying to find the trail. Here's a photo of Old Army Pass from some years back:

http://www.rickkent.net/ViewerPlus/viewphoto.aspx?ID=3459

In the middle is the chute. The trail works it's way up further to the left.

So, if upon descending from Langley things don't look right when you reach the pass you should go a little further south to find the trail.

-Rick

Edit: I see Tif just posted a more current photo.