The search for Ronnie and Beverly Barker and the tragic, sad outcome all reminded me of the case of the "Death Valley Germans" from back in 1996. Last night, I got started reading (for the second time) Tom Mahood's blog posts about the initial discovery of their abandoned rental van found some13 years after the German family vanished with a last known location in DVNP, and the resulting official and volunteer searches for remains which went on for about 2 years after the official searches found no sign of the family of 4. Thus between reading Mahood's lengthy narrative and studying his topos with GPS tracks and the official DVNP brochure map, I've sunk another 2 or 3 hours in a full review of the incident, at least from Mahood's perspective. For infrequent desert / remote area travelers like me, it's a good exercise in application of caution and worst case scenario skepticism.
Foy
Edit: I suppose Big Brother realized I was Googling "Death Valley Germans" and related searches for Tom Mahood's blog postings, as when I dialed up YouTube this afternoon I see none other than "Wonderhussy" doing a video she shot 3 years ago from the Butte Valley and the Geologist's Cabin/Warm Springs Cabin areas. I'll be the first to say that Wonderhussy is something of an acquired taste, but I think she does a good job of telling a story, even if her delivery can be a bit odd sometimes. Bottom line is I think she genuinely cares about the desert landscapes advocates preparation and caution for those wanting to explore out there and she told the story of the Death Valley Germans compassionately. She credited Tom Mahood's blog writings as source material several times and that was appropriate. She also had some good footage of the Warm Springs Canyon Rd, the Geologist's Cabin, and the Anvil Springs Canyon road. She apparently did not venture the many miles south cross-country to where the remains of some of the family were found, but she did around the same time do a separate video of her hike to the summit of Striped Butte, and that is pretty cool in and of itself.
