Incident:Fatality in Willow Creek Canyon 2021/04/04
| Incident:Fatality in Willow Creek Canyon 2021/04/04 | |
|---|---|
| Date | 2021/04/04 |
| Location | Willow Creek Canyon |
| Severity | Fatality |
| Canyoneering-related | No |
| SAR involvement | Yes |
| Navigation problem | Yes |
| Environmental problem | No |
| Communication problem | No |
| Planning problem | Yes |
| Skills problem | No |
| Body movement problem | Yes |
| Rigging problem | No |
| Rappel problem | No |
| Insufficient gear | Yes |
| Gear failure | No |
Summary
Two non-canyoneers attempted to hike and scramble through Willow Creek Canyon after their vehicle had two flat tires in Gold Valley. One fell and died. His companion was rescued 5 days later.
Accounts
Alexander Lofgren and his girlfriend Emily Henkel, both from Arizona, visited Death Valley National Park in early April 2021.
On Sunday, April 4, their Subaru got two flat tires, which was the event that set their tragedy in motion. They were in Gold Valley. To get there, they had driven 10 miles on Greenwater Valley Road (high clearance, according to the park's map), followed by about another 10 miles on a spur road marked as four-wheel-drive. Gold Valley is not heavily traveled, so the chances of someone happening upon them that day were low. There is no cell phone reception and the pair did not have a satellite communication device. It was still two days from when they would be missed by a family member they were scheduled to stay with on Tuesday.
At this point, they had several options, but I don't know which of these they considered: A) Stay with the vehicle and wait to be reported missing. In general, this is Death Valley National Park's recommendation. There are generally supplies in a vehicle. It provides shelter. Most critically, it is easier to find that people on foot. B) Drive out on flat tires. This would have destroyed the wheel rims, but might have gotten them out to a more major road. C) Walk back the way they came, east then south. This would have been a little over 20 miles on lightly traveled unpaved roads before they reached CA-178. D) Walk west toward Badwater Road through Willow Creek Canyon. This is about 5 miles from the end of Gold Valley Road to Badwater Road, plus the distance from where the second flat happened.
They decided to head through Willow Creek Canyon. Henkel later explained that the pair had experience scrambling and bypassing obstacles elsewhere, and figured they could handle what they would find.
The couple left a note in their windshield stating where they went. They packed plenty of food and water and started walking.
Once they left the end of the road, they were joined by Willow Creek. They came to a cascading waterfall with webbing rigged for a rappel. Here they also found a small metal ammo can, that had been left years earlier by Jay Snow. (Note: there are a few canyon registers in DVNP canyons, but this is not standard practice. Please do not add registers.) In a podcast interview, Henkel later said that a note in that register about "the 60-foot waterfall" being dry made them think there was only one waterfall in the canyon.
One of them wrote this note in the register:
4/4/2021 Popped 2 wheels on our car trying to backcountry camp - 3 or 4 miles back east in Gold Valley. Trying to seek help :) Always be prepared!! At least its beautiful here.
Emily Henkel Alex Lafgren 6:55 am Tucson, AZ
The first few rappels in Willow can be climbed -- and they did, until they got to Rappel #6 (according to the beta listed on Bluugnome.com). That website describes the area: "Rap 6 is anchored from a set of bolts LDC. The top of Rap 6 looks down climbable but quickly goes vertical as it drops about 60 feet down a water fall to a large ledge. Rap 7 is right at the bottom of rap 6 and is anchored by a set of bolts RDC. Rap 7 drops about 70 feet down a wall next to the lower part of the water fall."
Lofgren started climbing down the curved right edge of the drop-off, in order to see if the rest of it was climbable or not. He decided it wasn't, and started climbing back up. Unfortunately, he slipped going back up and fell approximately 60 feet to the ground. He was severely injured, but was able to communicate with Henkel.
She found another possible way to climb down, a chimney on the left. She climbed to a lower point than Lofgren had made it to, when she, too, fell. She broke her ankle.
Lofgren died sometime later that day.
Henkel was penned in by the 60-foot cliff above her, vertical canyon walls, and an unclimbable cliff about 100 feet downcanyon from her location. She covered her deceased boyfriend with a space blanket and waited. . .
Two days later the pair were missed by the family member when they didn't arrived as planned. That person didn't report them overdue until the next day, Wednesday, because there hadn't been clear instructions when to report them missing, and the pair had a history of making spontaneous trip changes.
- I will continue this entry later. -Abby Wines
