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Bill was a somewhat often poster here. He was very active with the PCT groups, and compiled the water reports for that trail. I thought of him as a friend, although I generally saw him 1-2 times a year. I wish it had been a lot more.  Searchers found an overdue California hiker dead of apparent natural causes
Saturday afternoon at his campsite near Charlton Lake in the Cascades,
Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.
The sheriff’s office had received a report around 8:30 p.m. Friday of an
overdue hiker, identified as William Jeffery, 54, of San Marcos, Calif.,
said sheriff’s Capt. Shane Nelson.
Jeffery’s wife told deputies her husband was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail
after she had dropped him off at Elk Lake last Tuesday.
Nelson said she last heard from her husband on Thursday, when he told her
he was going to camp at Charlton Lake, located east of Waldo Lake near the
crest of the Cascades, and to meet her at Odell Lake to camp on Friday.
When he didn’t show up, she called authorities.
Jeffery had never hiked this section of the PCT, Nelson said, but his wife
said he was an experienced hiker, well-equipped with food, water and
shelter.
Because of that, and the fact it was getting dark, deputies decided to wait
and see if he hiked out on his own the next morning, Nelson said.
When he didn’t arrive by 10 a.m., the Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue
members and deputies headed to the Charlton Lake area. Lane County SAR
responded as well, since the lake and some of the trail is in that county,
Nelson said.
Deschutes County searchers found Jeffery’s body around 3:30 p.m. at his
camp near the Lake, Nelson said.
The death appears to be from natural causes, Nelson said, but the
investigation is continuing, assisted by sheriff’s detectives.
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I am very saddened to see this. I enjoyed AsABat's postings on this board. He was so young...
I have hiked, mtn biked, camped and boated in the area where he was found numerous times. He was in one of the most beautiful places I know of. My heart and prayers go out to his family and friends.
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A lovely spirit, indeed.
Prayers and love to his family, from ours.
-L
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This is so sad, only 54
As some of you know, I love mountain quotes. This one reflects, despite the tragedy, that he died doing what he loved rather than dying in other circumstances:
But no journalist wrote about the banality of city life or how easy it is to become another automaton paying bills and working nine to five and being so removed from the primary necessities of life and so far from real fear and natural beauty and human instinct that when death finally approaches in some antiseptic white room, just as you have been waiting for it, you sense that you have already been dead for years.
Jonathan Waterman, In The Shadow of Denali page 246
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Very sad news indeed.
Condolences to family and friends.
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Wow, that is devastating news. I read his posts here on the board quite often. Does anyone know his PCT trail name or if he posted a journal on Postholer.com? 2012 has not been a good year for our hiking/climbing community.  My heart goes out to his wife and family. Sad, sad, sad... Stacy
Moved to Bishop in 2012 and haven't looked back since...
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 Paul W. sent me a link to this photo. I had mentioned to Doug that I was wondering why we had not planned a WPSMB Group Climb this year... not exactly what I had in mind, and (again) really sad, but I think it would be nice for us to do a climb in his memory. Candlelight would work without any permit issues. Thor Peak (which this photo is from.) would work if we wait until the Quota Season ends.
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Sad to hear of this loss. Condolences to his family and friends. May they find peace.
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?ref=name&id=1477964166
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Wow, that is devastating news. I read his posts here on the board quite often. Does anyone know his PCT trail name or if he posted a journal on Postholer.com? 2012 has not been a good year for our hiking/climbing community. My heart goes out to his wife and family. Sad, sad, sad... Stacy Bill's trail name was AsABat
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I have also enjoyed his contributions to this message board. Richard, sign me up if you get a memorial hike going. My sincere condolences to his family and friends.
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Very sorry to hear this. I met him on the first WPSMB group hike back in 2007. My condolences to his family and friends.
Norma
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I saw this and it was in my mind all day.
There wasn't a prayer, or condolence I could say that would ease the pain of his family.
The only thing that Keeps coming to mind is this:
"The mountains are calling and I must go" - John Muir
The mountains called him home.
RIP
Why Yes, I am crazy. I'm just not stupid.
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Hi If you read the cook's stories these events are real and they touch all of us at some point . I did several hikes with AsABat and was honored for those walks and the short talks we had.The Portals Family blessing to the family and friends during this very hard time. From all of us that are touched by each other.
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I enjoyed his posts, so sorry to hear this..Prayers to his family..
mark
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Prayers for his wife and family, this is a sad day.
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I am so sorry to hear this news, I last hiked with Bill in 2007 on a group hike to Thor Peak. Afterwards we all met in Lone Pine for pizza before heading home and although I occasionally read some of his posts I never saw him again after that. He was a good person and a strong hiker, my sincere condolences go to his wife and family, he will be sorely missed.
Phil
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I'm in Russia just finishing up guiding a climb of Mt. Elbrus and I jumped on to see what's been happening back home and read this. Prayers and my sincere condolences to Bill, his wife and family. Bill was a frequent suspect on many of our Mt. Baldy hikes and was always a joy to be around. He will be missed by many. Here are a few pictures I found from one of our many Baldy hikes. If a WPSMB hike was scheduled on Saturday October 13 I'd plan on being there (just saying). Here are a couple pictures of Bill I found:    Group summit photo on Mt. Baldy October 23, 2008. Bill's in the back row directly behind me with his signature khaki hat he always liked to wear.
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He'll be greatly missed by the PCT'ers as he was always posting water reports and I think he would restock in some areas.
My prayers go out to his family.
For those wondering you can find how his trail name came to be from googling AsAbat (As in Blind As a Bat)
What's an AsABat?
It's common on the long trails to take, or be given, a trail name. There are many people I consider friends who I know only by their trail names. Because they are easy to remember, it helps the trail grapevine communicate information up and down the trail.
Contrary to the belief of a few hiking partners, my trail name does not refer to hiking "as a bat out of Hades." Rather, it refers to "blind as a bat." In 1996 and 1997 I had new corneas installed. Prior to the transplants I spent a short time legally blind because of keratoconus. Hence, I was blind as a bat. When others ask how I got my name, I relate this information and remind them to fill out their organ donor cards.
Not drawing any comparisons to myself, I can relate to John Muir who, before his conservationist career, was quite the inventor. He punctured an eye in an industrial accident and lay in darkness for two months until his vision slowly returned. That was a turning point in his life, and he later wrote,
"Now had I arisen from the grave!
God has to nearly kill us sometimes, to teach us lessons,"
and later,
"I bade adieu to all my mechanical inventions,
determined to devote the rest of my life to the study of the inventions of God."
BTW, yes, I spell it as one word. I started out writing it "Asabat" but confused too many people, so adopted the funky capitalization "AsABat."
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Thanks for the 411 on how Bill chose his trail name, Patrick. That was inspiring. 
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"The mountains are calling and I must go."
John Muir
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