No Trace

Summary

Uinta Triangle - Episode: "No Trace"

Release Date: June 3, 2025
Host: Dave Cawley, Journalist and Creator of the True Crime Series COLD
Produced by: KSL Podcasts
Distributed by: Lemonada Media

Introduction

Uinta Triangle delves into the mysterious disappearance of Australian trekker Eric Robinson on the Uinta Highline Trail, a rugged and remote mountain range notorious for its unforgiving terrain. In this fourth episode, titled "No Trace," host Dave Cawley joins forces with Eric’s wife, Marilyn Koolstra, and their daughter, Rachel Marsden, to navigate the complexities of the search effort and uncover the layers of history and environmental challenges that may have contributed to Eric's vanishing.

The Disappearance of Eric Robinson

Eric Robinson, an avid hiker with a passion for wilderness exploration, vanished during a solo trek in the Uinta Mountains—a region known for its treacherous conditions. "Time was turning against Eric Robinson," Cawley narrates at [04:14], highlighting the urgency faced by those searching for him. Eric missed his scheduled pickup on August 7, 2011, sparking a multi-day search effort fraught with uncertainty and limited resources.

Marilyn and Rachel’s Journey

Marilyn Koolstra and her daughter Rachel Marsden embarked on a journey from Australia to the United States to join the search for Eric. Their flight was anything but smooth. Rachel recalls, “It was hideous. They were literally sitting all around us” at [02:15], referring to the disruptive environment of their economy-class flight. Despite initial setbacks, including being seated apart and the loss of their checked luggage, Marilyn and Rachel persisted, driven by the memories and hopes tied to Eric's adventurous spirit.

Search and Rescue Efforts in Duchesne County

The search was primarily coordinated by the Duchenne County Sheriff's Office, a region with fewer search and rescue (SAR) resources compared to neighboring Summit County. Julia Geisler and her partner, Blake Summers, played pivotal roles in the search, navigating the expansive and challenging terrain. At [05:07], Julia articulates the daunting nature of the search area: “You're like, how far could a person go in a day? 10 miles, 12 miles, whatever that is, 20 miles? In that circle, the radius just gets larger every day.”

The limited resources and vast area made the search increasingly difficult. “Volunteer resources that seemed to be available through Duchenne seemed pretty limited,” Julia observes at [08:46], underscoring the strain on the SAR teams as the search area expanded.

Historical Context and Environmental Challenges

A significant portion of the episode explores the historical and environmental backdrop of the Uinta Mountains. The region’s management policies, particularly the concept of "multiple use," have led to conflicts between conservation efforts and agricultural practices such as sheep grazing.

Dave Cawley provides an in-depth historical overview, beginning at [23:14], tracing the Uinta Mountains' transformation from the ancestral lands of the Ute peoples to a contested landscape shaped by settlers, ranchers, and conservationists. The history of overgrazing and environmental degradation is highlighted, revealing how these factors have complicated both the natural landscape and the SAR efforts.

Art Lang and Dan McCool's Expedition

Parallel to Marilyn and Rachel’s efforts, hikers Art Lang and Dan McCool undertook their own trek on the Uinta Highline Trail. Their journey intersected with Julia and Blake's search, leading to collaborative efforts in locating Eric. At [17:04], Art Lang discusses the challenges posed by the trail conditions: “Walking this trail was not terribly difficult, navigation wise, but also wasn't very risky because it is not dangerous to travel the backcountry as long as you're sane about it, as long as you take some precautions.”

Art and Dan's experiences shed light on the physical dangers of the trail, particularly Dead Horse Pass—a notorious segment known for its steep and snowbound conditions. Their encounter with other hikers, including a group from Indiana who warned against crossing Dead Horse Pass, illustrates the shared concerns and the critical decision-making involved in the search.

Dead Horse Pass: A Critical juncture

Dead Horse Pass serves as a focal point in the search narrative. Its treacherous reputation is intertwined with local lore and historical accounts. Art Lang recounts his apprehension and ultimate decision to traverse the pass despite warnings, revealing the thin line between hope and risk in SAR operations. “[07:48] Julia Geisler: Yeah, more rural county as opposed to Summit, which is definitely more populated.”

The decision to proceed towards Dead Horse Pass was pivotal, as it represented both the most likely location where Eric might have encountered trouble and a significant physical barrier that intensified the search's complexity.

The Intersection of Modern Search Efforts and Historical Land Use

The episode intricately weaves the present-day search for Eric with the historical land use policies that have shaped the Uinta Mountains. The ongoing debate between conservation and agricultural interests, particularly regarding sheep grazing, is presented as a significant factor influencing the region's ecology and accessibility. This historical perspective provides a deeper understanding of the current challenges faced by those attempting to navigate and search the Highline Trail.

Personal Struggles and Determination

Marilyn’s personal journey is poignantly captured, illustrating the emotional toll of Eric's disappearance. “[41:44] Marilyn Khulstra: I was ready to sit on the floor and, you know, give up.” Her resilience and determination are tested as she grapples with exhaustion and the daunting task ahead. Rachel’s supportive role is evident when she encourages Marilyn, saying, “[42:17] Rachel Marsden: I think she’s not that great at asking for when she does need help. So I think I just had let her know that, you know, I'm here if you need me.”

Their collaboration with searchers like Julia and Blake, despite initial frustrations with the local SAR infrastructure, underscores the familial bonds and shared commitment driving the search effort.

Key Moments and Turning Points

Several key moments highlight the interplay between hope and despair in the search for Eric:

• Helicopter Deployment ([07:09] Julia Geisler): Julia and Blake are airlifted to a strategic location near Dead Horse Pass, symbolizing a calculated approach amidst increasing uncertainty.

• Encounter with Herders ([21:47] Art Lang): The interaction with Chilean or Peruvian shepherds reveals cultural and operational barriers within the SAR efforts, highlighting the complexities of coordinating across diverse groups.

• Marilyn’s Media Engagement ([58:31] Marilyn Khulstra): Marilyn's reluctant yet crucial interview with KSL TV epitomizes the public relations aspect of the search, balancing personal anguish with the necessity of reaching a broader audience.

Environmental Stewardship and "Leave No Trace"

Cawley emphasizes the environmental ethos that Eric embodied—“Take only photos, leave only footprints”—and its impact on the search. This principle, rooted in the "Leave No Trace" campaign, underscores the minimal clues left behind, complicating the identification and rescue effort. The responsibility of maintaining wilderness areas amid environmental degradation and limited resources is a recurring theme, reflecting broader conservation challenges.

Conclusion

"No Trace" masterfully intertwines personal narratives with historical and environmental contexts to paint a comprehensive picture of Eric Robinson’s disappearance and the ensuing search efforts. The episode highlights the intersection of human determination, familial bonds, environmental stewardship, and the often-overlooked complexities of wilderness management.

Notable Quotes:

• Julia Geisler ([05:07]): “How far could a person go in a day? 10 miles, 12 miles, whatever that is, 20 miles? In that circle, the radius just gets larger every day.”

• Rachel Marsden ([02:15]): “It was hideous. They were literally sitting all around us.”

• Marilyn Khulstra ([41:44]): “I was ready to sit on the floor and, you know, give up.”

• Art Lang ([17:04]): “Walking this trail was not terribly difficult, navigation wise, but also wasn't very risky because it is not dangerous to travel the backcountry as long as you're sane about it, as long as you take some precautions.”

• Cawley ([57:33]): “[...] Eric Robinson's outdoor ethic mirrors my own. He intended to leave no trace. But that meant when he disappeared, the people who went out to search for him had very little to go on.”

Final Reflections

No Trace not only narrates the desperate search for Eric Robinson but also serves as a meditation on the fragile balance between human ambition and the relentless forces of nature. It questions the efficacy of current wilderness policies and the human capacity to navigate both the physical and emotional landscapes of loss and resilience.

Listeners are left contemplating the profound connections between past and present, the visible and invisible markers we leave behind, and the enduring human spirit in the face of uncertainty.

Transcript

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[Dave Cawley]

Fathers are shot to death outside an iconic Utah restaurant. I said, your dad has been hurt really bad. The grief was disorienting for those left behind. Until one choice changed everything.

[Marilyn Khulstra]

I just remember writing this letter, and.

[Rachel Marsden]

It wasn't me writing it.

[Dave Cawley]

Can a personal decision shape generations? We're all falling for this guy's trick. I'm Amy Donaldson. Season 2 of the Letter Ripple Effect is available now. Follow [e-mail] or wherever you get your podcasts. Lemonade.

[Dorothy Rutledge]

As we sat around the campfire, I was just thinking of the rough places over which we had traveled when Morgan announced the worst was yet to come, that tomorrow morning we would go over Dead Horse Pass. When I had thought of the five horses that have rolled to their death down that slope, I was not a little worried. Dorothy Rutledge The Deseret Noose October 18, 1930.

[Dave Cawley]

Rachel Marsden couldn't sleep. She was on a plane somewhere over the Pacific. The drone of jet engines filled her ears, punctuated by bursts of laughter.

[Rachel Marsden]

It was excruciating, and we were surrounded by a group of Australian young men going to a buck stew in Las Vegas.

[Dave Cawley]

A buck's due goes by another name in the U.S. bachelor party. Rachel and her mom, Marilyn, were flying to the United States on their way to join the search for Marilyn's missing husband, Eric Robinson. They were deep in economy class, surrounded by boisterous young men.

[Rachel Marsden]

It was hideous. They were literally sitting all around us.

[Dave Cawley]

Rachel had pulled a flight attendant to the side when they had first boarded.

[Rachel Marsden]

I tried to get an upgrade and tell them what the circumstances were. I wasn't very good at that.

[Dave Cawley]

The flight was full, and the crew couldn't accommodate an upgrade. To make matters worse, Marilyn's travel agent hadn't been able to book two seats side by side. So Rachel and Marilyn were seated apart. But they eventually managed to talk one of the young men into swapping places. Rachel looked at Marilyn. She'd witnessed her mom go through some hard experiences in life, including the breakdown of the marriage to Rachel's own father.

[Rachel Marsden]

Having been divorced in a complicated process.

[Dave Cawley]

She had also watched Marilyn find her independence and discover new love with Eric.

[Rachel Marsden]

That made her happy. So, really, myself and my brothers, that's really what we wanted for our mum.

[Dave Cawley]

It hadn't all been roses and romance. Eric's drive to hike and his desire to have Marilyn by his side caused friction. As you've already heard, she didn't have.

[Rachel Marsden]

The same degree of passion and interest that he did. She would do some, but she still had a lot to give to her career and she was going to be true to that. She started, you know, having given a lot of her life to her family and her first husband. You know, she had put her own desires and goals on the back burner all second. And so she had commenced that career in the middle of her life. And it was really just building momentum at that time. And I don't think she was prepared to compromise on that. She was very loyal and loving wife, but also she wanted to fulfill her own dreams and goals.

[Dave Cawley]

Now that love and loyalty faced their toughest test.

[Rachel Marsden]

It was hard. It was hard. And, you know, you've got that sense of time passing and it dragging super slowly with this sense of urgency, of wanting to be there and in the interim, not knowing what's happening to.

[Dave Cawley]

All this urgency and uncertainty. While every minute that passed only increased concern for Eric. My name is Dave Cawley. You are listening to Uinta Triangle, an audio documentary from KSL Podcasts. This is the fourth episode. No trace. Time was turning against Eric Robinson.

[Julia Geisler]

We felt it ticking.

[Dave Cawley]

Eric was overdue from his hike on the Uinta Highline Trail. He'd missed his pickup at noon on Sunday, August 7, 2011. It was now dawn on Wednesday, the 10th day three of the search. Julia Geisler and her partner, Blake Summers, felt a deepening sense of urgency because the search area kept getting bigger.

[Julia Geisler]

You're like, how far could a person go in a day? 10 miles, 12 miles, whatever that is, 20 miles? In that circle, the radius just gets larger every day.

[Dave Cawley]

Blake had spent the first two days of the search hiking out from the end of the trail looking for Eric. He'd gone to Rocky C Pass, the last of the seven passes Eric would have had to cross on his hike. But Blake had returned with bad news. He hadn't found Eric. It was still possible Eric was just behind schedule, but that seemed less likely with each passing day.

[Julia Geisler]

At this point, he's probably had an accident of some sort or he's lost and he needs a rescue. And so time's of the essence. So I think we were feeling like we gotta just put in the long days on the trail to get out there and search as much as we possibly can.

[Dave Cawley]

Julia had watched Eric pack his bag before starting his hike. She knew he had the right clothing to stay warm and dry.

[Julia Geisler]

Yeah, you always have all the layers. Which Eric definitely did. From puffy jackets to rain jackets to all the things Eric carried.

[Dave Cawley]

Extra food, maps, a GPS unit, and an emergency beacon. He had tools to navigate if lost and the ability to summon help if injured. But Eric hadn't hit that panic button, which meant he either didn't think his situation was that bad yet, or he couldn't reach the beacon. Julia hoped Eric was still alive. If he was, his extra food would by now be just about gone.

[Julia Geisler]

And like I said, time was ticking, and I think we felt that she.

[Dave Cawley]

Needed to find him fast. Julia and Blake were at the headquarters of the Duchenne County Sheriff's Office, ready to join the search. In the United States, responsibility for search and rescue often falls on county sheriffs. Search and rescue, or sar, teams are usually made up of volunteers who operate under a sheriff's supervision. But the Uinta Mountains span more than one county. Summit county covers most of the north side, Duchenne county, most of the south. Julia hadn't been thinking about this when she first reported Eric missing.

[Julia Geisler]

I don't even know what number I called, but I would think it had been Summit county because he was supposed to come out in Summit County. That's where the Highline Trail ended.

[Dave Cawley]

She's right. The Highline trailhead, where Eric was supposed to finish his hike is in Summit county, but only just. You can stand in the parking lot and throw a rock, and it'll land in neighboring Duchesne County. Truth is, the Uintah Highline Trail spends most of its time in Duchene. So the Summit County Sheriff's Office decided Eric's disappearance wasn't their case. They handed it off to Duchene. And that was a consequential decision because Duchesne has far fewer search and rescue resources.

[Julia Geisler]

Yeah, more rural county as opposed to Summit, which is definitely more populated.

[Dave Cawley]

Duchesne County's home to only about 20,000 people. That's about half as many as live in Summit. And the demographic differences go deeper. Park City, the beating heart of Utah's ski tourism industry, is in Summit. Park City is also home to celebrity mansions and the glitz of the Sundance Film Festival, which means there's a lot more money flowing through Summit than Duchene.

[Julia Geisler]

And we had no idea, you know, of that going into the search.

[Dave Cawley]

The difference became apparent as Julia looked around the room. She saw the sheriff, his chief deputy, and a handful of volunteers. She And Blake had come dressed like lightweight hikers, fleece nylon trail runners. The Duchesne volunteers were ranchers in thick denim and leather cowboy boots. Julia wondered how such a small team was supposed to mount an effective search.

[Julia Geisler]

Volunteer resources that seemed to be available through Duchenne seemed pretty limited, a problem.

[Dave Cawley]

Made worse by the sheer size of the search area. Each of these volunteers knew only bits and pieces of the Uintas, say, their favorite fishing hole or a campground close to a road. But the High Line Trail was terra incognita for almost everyone in the room. They hadn't traveled it themselves. Julia's partner, Blake, probably knew more about the High Line than all the rest of them combined. So the sheriff put a map in front of Blake and asked, where do you guys want to go first? Blake said, dead Horse Pass, the most notorious, intimidating place on the Uinta Highline Trail.

[Julia Geisler]

Blake just pointed to that spot on the map, you know, using his knowledge of the Uintas and the trail and.

[Dave Cawley]

Like, timing, Blake thought Deadhorse was the most likely place for a Highline hiker to have trouble because it's steep and high consequence if you fall. The sheriff agreed. He'd viewed Deadhorse Pass from the air the day before during his helicopter flight and saw a troubling amount of snow there. They came up with a plan. A helicopter would fly Julia and Blake up to the Highline, dropping them about a day's walk away from Deadhorse. They would follow the trail the same direction Erik was supposed to be traveling. So searching for him along the way, they'd go as far as the base of Dead Horse Pass, questioning anyone else they came across. The sheriff gave them until 6pm on Friday to complete their search and report back. It felt surreal to Julia.

[Julia Geisler]

We've never been a part of a search and rescue operation, so it was really nice to have the backing and that he was, you know, receptive to our knowledge of the Uintas and just giving us the resources that he could with the helicopters and whatnot to be able to search. Yeah, I think we're definitely seen as experts, especially Blake, with his knowledge of the terrain up there, which was nice. They recognized that because they could have just told us to get lost, to be quite frank.

[Dave Cawley]

Julia and Blake grabbed their packs and headed out to board the chopper. It lifted off, carrying them toward the forested flank of the Uinta Mountains. Julia peered out the window, and the aerial perspective overwhelmed her.

[Julia Geisler]

You just realize how vast it is and how rocky and treed, and it's not like, oh, there's the trail, she.

[Dave Cawley]

Saw an endless number of possible hiding places in a mountain range known for keeping its secrets.

[Julia Geisler]

You're just like, oh, we're it's like a needle in a haystack out here. How are we ever gonna find somebody unless he's like right on the trail somewhere?

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[Dave Cawley]

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[Julia Geisler]

You know, you think you're flying over in a helicopter, you're gonna be able to see a big red rucksack, but there's so much blocking of you, you know, boulders, and you just sit down behind a boulder and you're hidden. It's just really hard to see the ground cover from up there.

[Dave Cawley]

The helicopter was crossing terrain in a matter of minutes that it would take hours or days to travel on Foot. The interior of the Uinta Range is devoid of roads. It's a swath of wild land owned and managed by the federal government as a national forest.

[Julia Geisler]

And the Forest Service has just thousands and thousands of acres that they're responsible for. And it just shows you how, you know, it is still wilderness. And we are lucky that there's even a search and rescue operation to be had.

[Dave Cawley]

The wildness of the place brought up all kinds of fears. Maybe a tree had fallen on Eric. Maybe he had been attacked by a wild animal. Julia even wondered, is it foul play?

[Julia Geisler]

There are so many humans out there, and if I'm in the woods, I'm the most afraid of a human being than I am of anything else, having spent a lot of time in the woods.

[Dave Cawley]

So, yeah, a murder in the mountains might seem far fetched, but it's not entirely without precedent. In 1983, a pair of Forest Service workers smelled what they thought was an animal carcass at a place called Christmas Meadows. They went to investigate and found the partially decomposed body of an unidentified man. He had been shot in the back of the head, execution style. This man's never been identified, and his killer has never been caught. A sheepherder traveling through the same area a year later came across a skull and collarbone. These were from a different person, not the John Doe I just mentioned. Dental records proved the skull belonged to a young man from England. He'd also been murdered, but no one's ever faced criminal charges in that case. Julia wasn't aware of any evidence suggesting a stranger might have attacked Eric on the trail. But she couldn't rule it out. That thought lodged in the back of her mind.

[Julia Geisler]

Every human being should have been a suspect at that time. Of, like, who are we talking to and how are we talking to them? I mean, if this happened in the city, how do you do it? I don't know, but it seems like you talk to people in a certain way.

[Dave Cawley]

The helicopter slowed as it neared the spine of the Uinta crest. The pilot circled, looking for a good place to land. Julia wasn't sure exactly where they were, aside from knowing the spot where the chopper landed was near the Highline Trail.

[Julia Geisler]

It's really easy to get disoriented in duentas, like, geographically speaking.

[Dave Cawley]

I can tell you from official reports they were in the upper reaches of the Lake fork drainage, about 2/3 the way along Eric's intended path. Julia and Blake were going to follow the trail west, the same direction Eric would have been traveling. About a half day's Walk would take them to Redknob Pass, which they would cross on their way to Dead Horse Pass. That's the spot on the map Blake had pointed to where he thought it was most likely. Eric could have had trouble. The helicopter lifted off, leaving them alone. Julia and Blake hoisted their backpacks and started moving, going slow while searching through forested areas beside the trail.

[Julia Geisler]

We're calling his name and walking along, but you get separated pretty quickly and it's like, oh, we're going to get lost ourselves if we're not careful here.

[Dave Cawley]

At the same time, Art lang and Dan McCool were continuing their own trek on the Uinta Highline Trail. We met Art and Dan before. They're the two guys who were just hiking the High Line for fun and who started their walk about a week after Eric. They had learned about Eric on Tuesday before crossing Anderson Pass. It was now Wednesday, and they were watching for Eric as they moved along the trail.

[Art Lang]

Walking this trail was not terribly difficult, navigation wise, but also wasn't very risky because it is not dangerous to travel the backcountry as long as you're sane about it, as long as you take some precautions.

[Dave Cawley]

They'd seen one dangerous spot already, those unexpected snow drifts at Anderson Pass. Now they came to another pass called porcupine, and were relieved to find it was free of snow. Porcupine is number four of the seven passes Eric would have had to cross. It sits way above timberline and it's surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the range. It's very scenic, and that's the whole reason Art was walking the High Line.

[Art Lang]

When I got up there, I didn't say, wow, this is grand, but intimidating. I said, cool, look at, there's Red Knob Peak. There's Explorer Peak.

[Dave Cawley]

Cool, look at.

[Art Lang]

I can see right down that drainage. I mean, and so it's places I'd been before. And it was stimulating and attracting. It drew me down. I wanted to go get closer and see it.

[Dave Cawley]

To the west of Porcupine Pass, the Uinta High Line crosses the Oheap Basin. Oweep is a Ute Indian word that means grass. The floor of this basin explodes with greenery and wildflowers during the brief alpine summer that makes it a popular place for sheep herders. Art looked down into the basin and saw a trampled mess. A huge herd must have recently moved through the Oweep, chewing all that grass right down to the dirt. The Highline Trail disappeared among countless paths etched into the turf by hooves. Art's mind went to Eric. He had probably come to the uintas.

[Art Lang]

With an assumption there's a trail and I can follow the trail. And maybe coming from Australia with no uintas experience, I'd be counting on that.

[Dave Cawley]

Eric knew a fair bit about sheep. They're a major part of Australia's agriculture economy. Same with New zealand. And Eric had trekked around sheep in both places. But those ecosystems are a lot different Than the alpine tundra of the hyuintas, where vegetation is very slow to recover from the impacts of grazing. Eric probably hadn't anticipated Needing to tell the high line apart from countless sheep trails.

[Art Lang]

But if I got up there and I looked down and there's no trail, and it's a braided mess, A braided hot mess of sheep, I would say maybe this is going to be a little more challenging than I thought.

[Dave Cawley]

Art and Dan descended from porcupine pass and began crossing the oweep basin. As expected, they soon found the high line proved impossible to follow.

[Art Lang]

In that case, I had to macro navigate and could go towards a ridge in the distance 10 miles away. And I could just keep aiming for it Because I was in alpine tundra, or what had been before the sheep got there.

[Dave Cawley]

They went along this way for a while, Finding and losing traces of the high line before coming to a tall wooden post. Standing alone in the tundra, it marked an intersection where another trail met the high line. But the sign boards were cracked in half. Sitting on the ground, they were illegible, Having been worn smooth by the elements. Art was outraged.

[Art Lang]

The forest service doesn't have enough money to replace a sign that fell down.

[Dave Cawley]

No, they don't. The U.S. government Accountability Office issued a report in 2013 saying the Forest service had a persistent backlog of deferred maintenance on its trail system. It amounted to more than $300 million in work that hadn't been done, that hasn't improved in the decades since. And areas deep within the backcountry, like the Uintah highline trail, Are less likely to see routine maintenance because of how difficult and costly it is. Art realized this dilapidated trail intersection could have confused Eric, Sending him off on the wrong path. He made a mental note of the spot.

[Art Lang]

Me, I'm a lot more irritated and concerned about the fact that the ecosystem is so badly damaged that you can't even see a trail anymore, and the fact that the forest service can't afford to maintain our trails.

[Dave Cawley]

Art and Dan kept moving west, following the highline trail. When they could find it. They eventually caught up to the sheep herd At a place called Lambert meadow. The meadow's enclosed on three sides by high ridges, making it a sort of natural corral. The Duchenne county sheriff had seen the same herd during his helicopter flyover the day before. His chief deputy had checked with the Forest Service, which manages grazing in the Uintas, to find out who owned the animals. They belonged to a rancher in Wyoming, but that's not who Arden Dan found tending the herd.

[Art Lang]

The gentlemen that we encountered were Chilean or Peruvian shepherds that had been recruited to be there, and they spoke not a speck of English, and we only communicated with some bad Spanish, but were able to learn some stuff from them.

[Dave Cawley]

Many of the herders who tend flocks on the forests and rangelands of the western US are migrant laborers from Latin America. They come to the States on temporary visas and are entirely dependent on their bosses for food, supplies and communication. They have very little contact with the outside world. Art asked if the herders had seen an Australian man with a red backpack. He didn't get a straight answer, but it wasn't clear if the shepherds even understood the question.

[Art Lang]

They would by nature not be going and finding search and rescue or doing anything else. They leave a very secluded existence back there, and they're isolated, completely isolated. And I think part of that may be by design by their employer.

[Dave Cawley]

I wanted to talk to their employer myself, but he died in 2013. So I have no way of identifying these herders or hearing their side of this story. Assuming they are still in the country. All I can say is they showed no interest in joining the search for Eric. But there's a good reason for that. Tending a flock is a 247 job, and shirking that responsibility could have got them fired and deported. They also probably wanted to avoid attention because sheep grazing in the Haywintas is controversial.

[Art Lang]

I would prefer they're not there. I would prefer that nothing not wild is there. Maybe even me.

[Dave Cawley]

Sometimes the Hyuentas are wilderness. That's not just poetic language. It's a legal term. But what does that mean? And why are there sheep in the wilderness? The answer has everything to do with a concept called multiple use. And it has its roots in the history of the High Uintas. The Uintas are the ancestral lands of indigenous Shoshone and Ute peoples. The word Uinta even comes from a northern Ute word that translates as pine forest. A band of Utes known as the Uinta Ats hunted and gathered in these mountains for centuries before European contact. But in the 1820s, fur trappers entered the Uintas in search of beaver pelts. They were followed a decade or so later by Mormon pioneers.

[Historical Voice Actor]

And so, as we know, every day, more and more settlers took up the trail that led into the sunset. On and on they pressed, until the far west itself became settled.

[Dave Cawley]

The Mormons were religious exiles who founded their new Zion Salt Lake City, just west of the Uintas. Their numbers swelled, putting them in direct competition with the indigenous tribes for land and resources. Bad blood soon boiled over into open warfare. The Mormons petitioned the US government to intervene. So in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln set aside the south slope of the Uinta mountains and a vast arid stretch below as a reservation. Ute Indian bands were relocated, sometimes at gunpoint, to this reservation. The interior of the Uintah range was only vaguely known to Anglo Americans at the time. They didn't start filling in their maps until a series of government surveys in the 1870s. People in power soon realized the range was a rich resource. Tens of thousands of sheep and cows poured into the mountain meadows, forever increasing.

[Historical Voice Actor]

Numbers of cattle and sheep. The grass could not grow fast enough. They ripped the grass cover from the soil and left it exposed to the ravages of wind and rain. It was here that erosion first began. In the great west.

[Dave Cawley]

The ecological damage went beyond erosion. Ranchers exterminated all of the gray wolves and grizzly bears in the Uintas. Livestock fouled water sources and spread invasive weeds. Something had to be done. So in 1897, the federal government created the Uinta Forest Reserve, one of America's first national forests. The government tried to ban sheep from the reserve at first, but that prompted fierce pushback. So the feds relented and agreed to allow grazing, with some limits on when, where, and how many animals were allowed. In practice, almost nothing changed. President Teddy Roosevelt opened the lands of the Ute reservation to homesteaders in 1905, and he seized back the tribe's lands in the Uinta Mountains.

[Rachel Marsden]

Our aim is to promote prosperity and then to see that prosperity is passed around.

[Dave Cawley]

That scratchy old recording is actually President Roosevelt's voice from a speech more than a century ago. It sounds terrible because it was recorded on a wax cylinder. What Teddy was saying was the government needed to promote prosperity in rural communities by making farms and ranches more productive. Theodore Roosevelt's often remembered today for protecting America's national parks, prioritizing conservation and recreation.

[Historical Voice Actor]

Preferred park settings are those which induce complete relaxation and rest, settings in which nature can work her magic of mental and physical healing.

[Dave Cawley]

But President Roosevelt also formed the US Forest Service and gave that agency a mandate to manage national forests for multiple uses, not just recreation. The Forest Service was supposed to balance the competing interests of industry, local communities, wildlife and the environment. The agency immediately started making trails in the Uinta Mountains on behalf of sheep herders, hunters and hikers.

[Historical Voice Actor]

Splendid views few men have seen because the peaks were inaccessible now open up. As these trails lead hikers to the mountaintops.

[Dave Cawley]

By the 1920s, people were also petitioning the Forest Service to provide roads to the most scenic mountain spots like Mirror Lake in the Hyuintas. Let's have the road through that wonderland. One newspaper writer demanded. The government obliged. It started construction on what is today the Mirror Lake Highway. But some within the Forest Service began to worry. They saw roads were like rabbits. Rapidly reproducing pavement threatened to pierce every last wild place. One of these rangers put together a horse packing trip into the heart of the Hyuintas in September of 1930. He wanted to define the boundaries of a proposed primitive area where no new roads would be allowed. And he invited his 19 year old daughter, Dorothy Rutledge to come along.

[Dorothy Rutledge]

I was greatly thrilled when dad offered to take me along on a pack trip in the Hyuintas.

[Dave Cawley]

Dorothy wrote this account of the trip read by a voice actor.

[Dorothy Rutledge]

We could see in the distance the blue crown of Kings Peak, the highest peak in Utah.

[Dave Cawley]

I love Dorothy's story because she went out in the wild during a time when that was not expected of proper young ladies.

[Dorothy Rutledge]

Up again. We climbed over a huge rugged cliff, Red Knob Pass. Then down a slide rock decline on a narrow trail into a lovely basin.

[Dave Cawley]

This lovely basin is the same place Blake Summers told the Duchesne sheriff He wanted to look for Eric Robinson. The basin below Dead Horse Pass. The quartzite rock of the Uinta Mountains varies in color from tan to pink to purplish gray. The hues around Dead Horse are dreary, like the color of a bruise.

[Dorothy Rutledge]

There we made our camp for the night, surrounded by dark forests and great red cliffs that thrust themselves high above us.

[Dave Cawley]

Dorothy started up the pass the next morning. The trail went up the face of a steep rock strewn slope. It did a switchback on the top of a cliff where the quartzite gave way to crumbling beds of blue green shale.

[Dorothy Rutledge]

Slowly we ascended up the foot wide trail, the pack train following. As I clung tightly to the saddle horn and looked down below, I could see where a little lake of robin egg blue lay at the foot of the mountain and the forest beyond.

[Dave Cawley]

At one point her horse slipped on the shale almost tumbling over the cliff.

[Dorothy Rutledge]

The trail soon got so dangerously narrow and steep that we dismounted and led our horses the rest of the way.

[Dave Cawley]

But in the end, Dorothy made it over safely, and she gushed about the whole experience.

[Dorothy Rutledge]

Our trip was over. Eight glorious, busy, sunshiny days spent in one of the most delightful regions of the West. But unknown to most of us.

[Dave Cawley]

Several newspapers published Dorothy's story. Articles about the new High Uintas primitive area said all forms of business enterprise were to be excluded within its boundaries. But then, in fine print, they acknowledged cattle and sheep grazing would be allowed to continue. The principle of multiple use gave the Forest Service no other choice. A few decades later, in 1964, the US Congress passed a law called the Wilderness Act. It defined wilderness like this.

[Historical Voice Actor]

Wilderness means an area where earth and its community of life are untrammeled. That is, man is a visitor who does not remain, nor does he leave evidence of his being there.

[Dave Cawley]

The new law allowed Congress to create wilderness areas. Wilderness lands were supposed to be places where the greatest priority was protection of the natural environment. And they were more permanent than primitive areas, which could be easily undone. The Forest Service immediately proposed protecting the Hayuintas as a wilderness area, but that pitch went nowhere for political reasons. Western states that were home to most of the nation's public lands were often hostile to the creation of wilderness areas. Opponents accused conservationists of trying to kill off the sheep and cattle grazing industries. During the 1970s, several Western states even tried to seize control of federal public lands, an effort called the Sagebrush Rebellion. It failed, but the rebellion tends to flare up again every decade or so. The lack of formal wilderness designation didn't stop hikers and horse packers from pouring into the Uintas in ever greater numbers.

[Historical Voice Actor]

The Uintas are mostly rocks piled upon rocks. Many times it was safer for us and the horse for us to get off and walk. Besides, some parts of the anatomy appreciated the rest.

[Dave Cawley]

Long distance hiking underwent a renaissance during this same period as equipment became lighter and smaller. But going on horseback never went out of style.

[Historical Voice Actor]

The most obvious and immediate advantage to horse packing is the amount of gear you can take. We were in a primitive area where no motorized vehicles are even allowed, even if they could get there. Yet we were equipped as if we'd driven the family station wagon to a neighborhood campground.

[Dave Cawley]

It took 20 years, but a Utah specific wilderness bill finally made it through Congress. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed it into law.

[Historical Voice Actor]

Well, I'm delighted to sign this very.

[Dave Cawley]

Worthwhile thing with that signature, the Hy Uintas Wilderness came into being.

[Historical Voice Actor]

There it is. The Hyawinta Wilderness area is almost 500,000 acres of pine, streams and lakes set aside in hopes it will remain unspoiled.

[Dave Cawley]

The Hyuintas were already spoiled in the eyes of many wilderness advocates, but they cheered having stronger protections against new roads, logging and mining. Still, they didn't get all they wanted from the new law. It didn't restore the native wildlife, like gray wolves and grizzly bears that had been exterminated from the range. And the law explicitly said multiple use meant grazing would be allowed to continue. You may be wondering why I've taken you on this tangent about sheep. It's with purpose. I promise sheepherders will come up again later in our story, and I think it's helpful to understand the fault lines that sometimes divide different groups of outdoor enthusiasts. I live in Utah, a state blessed with amazing mountain and desert landscapes. Anyone who spends time exploring those places develops strong opinions on how they should be managed. I have talked to sheep ranchers who see themselves and their families as responsible stewards of those lands. In many cases they are, but I have also seen the impacts of overgrazing in the trail damage, erosion, litter. I even came across the remnants of a sheepherder camp during my hike on the High Line, following Eric's footsteps. This does kind of feel like wandering into somebody's home uninvited. Piles of pine needles in the fire rings told me no one had been there yet that season. Abandoned junk from summer's past was scattered around. There's a folding chair on the ground in a torn up bag. That's maybe their bathroom. Guess I should take a photo of the garbage. If you have ever visited a national park in the US or camped in a national forest, you've probably seen a sign that said Leave no Trace. That public relations campaign has roots in the the Hyuintas. The Forest Service first teamed up with the Boy Scouts of America back in the 1980s to teach Scout troops that were headed into the Hyuintas how to minimize their impact on the land. I was one of those Boy Scouts, and I took the message to heart. My wilderness ethic is embodied by the Take only photos, leave only footprints. But I found more than footprints during my hike on the Uintah Highline. At one spot I came across a huge food cache. Bunch of ramen, dog food, coffee, potatoes, bunch of beer, hard liquor, frickin rib eye. I wasn't mad at the rib Eye or the 24 pack of Budweiser. Just baffled the meat and alcohol were bobbing in icy water at the inlet of a small lake. The deep in the wilderness. Someone placed it there to keep it cold. It was too heavy to have been carried in by a backpacker, so it must have come in on horseback. But there were no people or horses in sight. Whoever dropped this cache intended to come back for it. But when they didn't leave a note, I imagined they planned to build a big bonfire on the delicate tundra, scarring the earth, leaving their empty aluminum cans scattered about. This is garbage. I'm sorry, that's frickin garbage. There is a responsible, discreet way to leave a food cache. This was not it. Look, I know I'm giving off old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn energy right now, but I'm passionate about this. Wilderness matters to me, and not just because I enjoy solitude. We protect these spaces on behalf of other living creatures too. That's the sound of Wapiti, the Rocky Mountain elk. I'm gonna try to sneak up on these elk. You can hear.

[Art Lang]

There they are.

[Dave Cawley]

I made this recording at a spot on the south side of the Uinta crest. At the time, domestic sheep herds were still far away on the north slope. I wouldn't have caught these elk otherwise because they won't share space with sheep. That is so cool. It was a large herd moving through a lush meadow about 100 meters or 350ft away. Even at that distance, some of the elk were alert to my presence and stood guard, protecting their calves and yearlings. Okay, I'm gonna turn down this microphone so you won't hear me talk and.

[Art Lang]

Just get the el.

[Dave Cawley]

Well, this morning was really special. I came across the herd of elk that I'd been listening to all night, and there must have been 50 or 80 elk diverted off trail to try to get closer and record the sound of all of their talking back and forth. All the little babies squealing. Elk were nearly hunted out of the Uintas in the late 1800s. They've rebounded. But a uinta highline hiker is still far more likely to run into thousands of sheep than they are just a few elk. Eric Robinson's outdoor ethic mirrors my own. He intended to leave no trace. But that meant when he disappeared, the people who went out to search for him had very little to go on. Marilyn Khulstra didn't sleep on the flight from Australia to the United States, and not just because of the bachelor party boys seated all around her. She felt unsettled about what awaited her. That Made the hours stretch.

[Marilyn Khulstra]

It's long across the Pacific because you've got 15 hours to think about what you're going to in that flight.

[Dave Cawley]

Marilyn felt exhausted. By the time they taxied to the gate at lax, she and her daughter Rachel were among the last off the plane. They went along like sheep in a herd of hundreds of other passengers, all headed toward customs. The line stacked up, meaning Marilyn and Rachel had to wait and wait. As they shuffled forward, Marilyn considered the questions the customs officer might ask. What's the purpose of your visit? Business or pleasure? I'm here to look for my missing husband. What does that count as? How long do you plan to stay in the United States? I don't know. They made it through customs at last, then headed for baggage claim. They needed to retrieve their checked bags and recheck them onto their connecting flight to Salt Lake City. But when they reached the carousel, their bags weren't there. TSA regulations require that baggage must be.

[Rachel Marsden]

Compromised at all times.

[Dave Cawley]

Marilyn had brought a big empty suitcase because she feared Eric might be dead and she would need the space to transport his possessions back home. But that suitcase and her own were nowhere to be seen. She hadn't even made it to Utah yet, and already she felt as if she had failed.

[Marilyn Khulstra]

I was ready to sit on the floor and, you know, give up.

[Dave Cawley]

She sank to her knees. The overhead lights glared off the cold, hard floor. Other travelers stepped around her, no one taking notice or stopping to ask if she was okay. But Rachel reached out to remind Marilyn, you're not alone.

[Rachel Marsden]

You know, I think she's not that great at asking for when she does need help. So I think I just had let her know that, you know, I'm here if you need me.

[Dave Cawley]

Rachel's encouragement reminded Marilyn of the day she had crossed the Rang La Pass with Eric in Nepal. She heard his words in her head. You can do it. Hen she took a deep breath, stood, and embraced her daughter. The two of them then went in search of their luggage. It didn't take long to sort out what had happened. They had taken so long getting through customs that the airline staff pulled their bags off the carousel.

[Marilyn Khulstra]

Our baggage was out in the unclaimed baggage area.

[Dave Cawley]

Marilyn laughs about it now.

[Marilyn Khulstra]

Probably a zombie by the time I couldn't find my bag.

[Dave Cawley]

But she came very close to her breaking point. Marilyn and Rachel were in the air again a short time later, headed for Salt Lake City. They arrived there on the afternoon of Thursday, August 11, day four of the search for Eric.

[Rachel Marsden]

We were very disoriented and Exhausted. But also we probably landed and we were ready to get going.

[Dave Cawley]

They hadn't reserved a rental car or booked a hotel. They had come on Julia Geisler's invitation alone.

[Rachel Marsden]

Mum had been in contact with Eric's hiking friends that he'd met by the John Muir Trail. Julia and Devin.

[Dave Cawley]

Devin had arrived in Utah the day before from San Francisco.

[Rachel Marsden]

Devin actually came and picked us up.

[Dave Cawley]

Devin had Julia's car. Marilyn and Rachel got in. Then Devin started the 45 minute drive to Park City.

[Marilyn Khulstra]

Devon was filling in what had happened so far. Julia and Blake were searching and we had somewhere to stay because Julia was house sitting and she had contacted the family and said, look, this has happened. Is it okay if two people from Australia come and stay in the house as well? So we had a base once we got there.

[Dave Cawley]

Rachel expected to find a hub of activity at this home base. But the house was empty when we'd arrived.

[Rachel Marsden]

They were searching so we couldn't actually do anything. So we were sort of sitting there drumming our fingers anyway, going, well, how do we now be useful given we're in a foreign country? We don't know anything, we don't know anyone. Like, where do we even start? It felt like we'd come all this way, like we would be really effective to be close, whereas we didn't, you know, in reality we weren't really that close.

[Dave Cawley]

The nearest edge of the Hyuintas Wilderness was another hour away by car up the Mirror Lake Highway. The search headquarters in Duchesne was at least 90 minutes away. They tried to call the Duchenne sheriff, only to be told he was unavailable.

[Rachel Marsden]

It was almost like we were like, okay, we're here, let's get going. Like, what have we got? And it just felt really flat then that we couldn't even get the person we needed to talk to on the phone. I remember feeling like they were under activated. Like I felt like, you know, if we were at home and this was the case, they would be gathering all of these volunteer research and rescue people and you would have a big team and they would all be there and it would be organised. And we were sort of probably thinking that a like version of that would have occurred or be occurring. And we didn't get any sense that that was what was happening.

[Dave Cawley]

Search and rescue missions in Australia are usually coordinated at the state level. Rachel didn't understand the American system where it happens at the county level. And she didn't realize rural Duchesne county had such a limited staff.

[Rachel Marsden]

So I think it was hard not to feel critical or questioning of, what are you doing? Like, and maybe that because he wasn't a US citizen, that they were perhaps a little less interested or taking it seriously. I was naive to the Uintas and to how the local system worked as well.

[Dave Cawley]

Unlike her mom, Rachel had never met Devon or Julia. But Devin was gracious, offering to help however Rachel thought best.

[Rachel Marsden]

But even that was strange. You'd never met this person, and here you are in the midst of this massive family drama. Not drama, maybe the right word, this crisis, really. And you're very reliant on a complete stranger for everything, and you're trying to be effective. I think I felt the weight of expectation on behalf of everyone, okay, we're here now. You know, we've got. We've got to solve this problem. We've got to actually figure out, where is he? Like, what's happened here?

[Dave Cawley]

Julia had left contact information for the local news stations. Devin suggested they invite reporters to come interview Marilyn.

[Marilyn Khulstra]

And first off, I was somewhat resistant to being that person who had to speak, you know, off the top of my head because there would be nothing prepared, no speech that I would be writing.

[Dave Cawley]

Her reluctance wasn't just about going off the cuff. She had almost lost her nerve just a few hours before. Her emotions were still raw. Marilyn, the stoic, didn't want to expose herself like that.

[Marilyn Khulstra]

But Rachel and Devon sort of persuaded me that that was the best way to reach out to the most number of people to get forward any information of people who may have seen him.

[Dave Cawley]

So they called KSLTV and invited them to send a reporter to interview Marilyn. Art lang and Dan McCool left Lambert Meadow where they had encountered the sheep herd on the morning of Thursday, August 11, day four of the search for Eric Robinson. The Highline Trail drops down a hill there and meets the Lake Fork River. The trail then makes a 90 degree turn to follow the river up to its source at the bottom of Red Knob Pass. The craggy face of Mount Lavinia dominates the view to the right, rising so abruptly you can't see the summit from the trail. Art and Dan ran into a group of hikers from Indiana. Somewhere in this area, the Hoosiers were headed the opposite direction. They warned Art to turn around. They said he shouldn't push his luck by going over Redknob and on to Dead Horse. Dead Horse Pass, they said was too dangerous to cross because of snow.

[Art Lang]

Dead Horse Pass is the most difficult pass on the entire crossing, and it.

[Dave Cawley]

Looms large in the minds of hikers on the Uintah Highline. I still remember the first time I set eyes on Dead Horse Pass, years ago. It intimidated me. Just the name Dead Horse tells you why. I've literally found horse bones and bits of old bridal leather in the rocks at the bottom of the pass. It doesn't seem like a likely place for a trail. I wanted to find out who first crossed it and who named it. That research introduced me to a figure from history, a Mormon pioneer named George Beard. He came to Utah as a boy in the mid-1800s and started venturing into the Uintas in search of inspiration. I felt only the desire to put such scenery in its true colors on the canvas. Beard was an amateur painter. He and his wife Lavinia often traveled into the Uintas together. Beard later described their first trip in a letter read here by a voice actor. We journeyed to Mirror Lake, where we camped and later climbed Mount Baldy. Atop this peak, I first gained a panorama of the Uinta beauty. They left their mark on maps we still use today. George named Granddaddy Lake, a popular Uinta camping spot and one of the highest Uinta peaks. A place I mentioned a moment ago bears the name Mount Lavinia. Beard carried a camera and captured some of the first known photos of the Hyuintas. I've gone through hundreds of them. One shows a group of men leading horses over Dead Horse Pass. Towering walls of vertical rock rise above them. A steep slope falls away below. Beard painted that same scene. The Salt Lake Tribune wrote about the painting, quoting Beard as saying the person who first forged the trail over Dead Horse left a sign that read 500ft above, a thousand feet below. Tenderfoot, watch your step, or to hell you'll surely go. I'm half convinced Beard made that up himself. I also suspect he might be the one who named Dead Horse Pass and created the mystique that still influences Uintah Highline hikers more than a century later.

[Art Lang]

Everyone that travels early in the year is wondering if they can get over that. And if they can't, they gotta do a long backtrack out of it.

[Dave Cawley]

That backtrack is no small thing. The group from Indiana recommended art Take a detour that I'm going to call the Granddaddy Bypass. It would involve leaving the Highline Trail and dropping down to the south, looping through the Grandaddy Lake Basin and returning to the High Line near Naturalist Basin. That detour would skip both Deadhorse and Rocky Sea passes, but at the cost of adding significant distance to the trip, we're talking two or three full days of extra walking, most of it through mosquito infested forest far from the beautiful alpine tundra. Art didn't like that idea. The Hoosiers were insistent, though. They thought Deadhorse looked that scary.

[Art Lang]

It is steep and it's snowbound for almost the entire year because it's on the north side and the trail, when it's visible, the trail is not in great condition. It does switchbacks up the side of the tailless slope, but then it crosses a steep, high angle tailless slope above a bunch of cliffs. So it's notorious. Especially notorious for people that are not skilled in that or experience.

[Dave Cawley]

Art waved off the group from Indiana. Then he and his hiking partner Dan continued on their way toward Redknife Pass. They soon caught up to some other hikers. One of them asked Art if he had seen an Australian man with a red backpack by the name of Eric Robinson.

[Art Lang]

At that time I knew he was missing.

[Dave Cawley]

The couple introduced themselves. Julia Geisler and Blake Summers. They said they were personal friends of Eric's who were involved in the search.

[Julia Geisler]

Mostly hiking the trail, calling his name, using whistles, that kind of thing.

[Dave Cawley]

Art told them his story. How he had learned of the search for Errik a couple of days earlier near Kings Peak, how he had encountered dangerous snow on Anderson Pass, how he had struggled to follow the Highline Trail across the Oweep Basin because of sheep damage. Julia paused every few steps to call Eric's name.

[Art Lang]

She was looking for him right there. So they suspected at Upper Lake Fork for some reason. I'm not really quite certain why the.

[Dave Cawley]

Reason was was Blake's hunch about Deadhorse Pass. Blake figured Eric might have reached Deadhorse, seen that it was snowbound, and decided not to risk crossing it. If so, Eric might have then reversed course back over Red Knob Pass into the Lake Fork drainage, looking for another way around. Art, Dan, Julia, and Blake were all headed the same direction, going westbound on the High Line, ascending Red Knob Pass on their way to Deadhorse. So they walked together and before long reached the top of Redknob Pass, which is broad and flat. You can stand there, look out to the west and see Deadhorse Pass a couple miles away.

[Art Lang]

When I got to Redknob Pass and could see for the first time dead horse condition, I felt somewhat relief, actually.

[Dave Cawley]

Art saw the bottom two thirds of the pass were snowbound, along with a short section toward the top, but there was more bare ground than he had expected.

[Art Lang]

When I looked at it, I said, hey, that's not too big a deal, Art told me.

[Dave Cawley]

Julia and Blake were not so encouraged.

[Art Lang]

But they looked at it and said, boy, that's gnarly. I hope he didn't try and do that.

[Julia Geisler]

It just seemed very vast. I don't remember, like, looking at Deadhorse being like, there's no way he would go over that.

[Dave Cawley]

Julia doesn't dispute saying it, but she told me the entire experience is a jumble in her memory. That makes sense. She was exhausted, under extreme stress, and hyper focused on her mission. I've stood at that same spot, peered across at Deadhorse, and thought, nope, Dead Horse Pass just looks scary even when it's not covered in snow.

[Art Lang]

From Redknow Pass, intimidating as heck. From Dead Horse Lake, intimidating as heck even to me. But I knew it wasn't going to be that intimidating when I got to it. A, I'd been there three or four times before and climbed it, and B I knew that I wouldn't know anything until I actually started up the slope.

[Dave Cawley]

The two parties made their way down from Redknob into the cirque between Redknob and Deadhorse Passes. They hiked a few miles through a forested stretch of trail before reaching Deadhorse Lake. From the shore, Art looked across the milky blue water and eyed the snowfield stretching up the cliffy slope on the far side. It still looked intimidating, but even more doable than it had appeared.

[Art Lang]

From a distance, it always looks 10 times harder than it really is. So until you walk over to the slope and look up at it, you won't have any indication of whether it goes.

[Dave Cawley]

Art felt a surge of confidence and relief. He hadn't taken the advice of the Indiana group about the granddaddy bypass Dead Horse would go.

[Art Lang]

We looked at it and were relieved it wasn't going to be too hard to cross, because right now we're in a hurry. Want to get back and start helping with the rescue? We're running out of food. We're on the last two days of our trip.

[Dave Cawley]

Art and Dan said goodbye to Julia and Blake, who were going to search for Eric around Dead Horse Lake, stay the night there, then hike out the next day. The two parties exchanged contact information and promised to update one another when they'd bring both returned to civilization. Art and Dan then made their way around the lake to the toe of the snowfield. Art stepped onto the snow. It wasn't soft and powdery, but instead dense and icy. The angle was mellow enough. At least here at the bottom he could walk straight up the snowfield like a ramp. If he fell, it wouldn't be that bad. He wouldn't slide all that far before coming to a stop, and you'd be.

[Art Lang]

Bruised up or have some skin rash, but it wouldn't kill you. Probably wouldn't even injure you.

[Dave Cawley]

But the angle increased the farther he went. Soon Art and Dan were kicking in toe holds, then leaning forward into the slope to use their hands as well. The most dangerous spot on Deadhorse Pass is about two thirds the way up, where the trail runs directly above a band of cliffs. Cliffs. A fall there could kill you, and the danger only increases when that spot's covered with snow.

[Art Lang]

Snow. Steep snow is a little different because you could slide out of control and get some real velocity up when you finally hit the boulders at the bottom.

[Dave Cawley]

Art remained focused as he approached this crux. He could see it was mostly clear. He reached the top of the snowfield and found the muddy, slippery structure of the Highline trail. The trail there's narrow and off camber, meaning you have to lean to one side to stay upright, but that's still far safer than vertical snow. The rest of the way up was a breeze. Art and Dan made it to the top of Deadhorse safely, but Art wondered how much worse that snow might have been a week or so earlier, when Eric Robinson might have encountered it.

[Art Lang]

That's a travelable pass with snow on it, but you better be pretty darn experienced. So I don't recommend it if it has snow, but for us, for mountaineers, it was relatively easy and safe. But it isn't for people that don't have experience in the high and wild.

[Dave Cawley]

The glare of a video light shined in Marilyn's eyes, blinding her to the view of a TV news camera pointed at her face. She sat in a leather armchair in a home that wasn't her own, trying not to think about how odd the situation was. A reporter asked when she had last seen her husband, Eric. Here is what she said, straight from the archives of ksltv.

[KSL TV Reporter]

It doesn't seem real. You know, we waved goodbye three weeks ago at Melbourne Airport, and he told me to behave whilst I was. He was away. And it just seems like he's out, you know, trekking.

[Dave Cawley]

Like he could turn up at any moment and chastise her for causing a scene, just as he had after his delay on the Cascade Saddle in New Zealand. She had been on the floor at LAX just a few hours before, ready to give up. But she gave no sign of that despair in this interview. Now, I was not personally in the room for this interview. I wouldn't meet Marilyn until years later, but I have seen the video countless times. Marilyn smiled for the camera watching this clip now, when I know Marilyn well, I see subtle signs of fear etched on her face.

[KSL TV Reporter]

When I think about it, you know, I can go to the dark side and what if and where is he and what's happening? And you know, it's a bit, it's a bit hard to remain positive after four days and knowing the kind of person that he is. It's difficult.

[Dave Cawley]

She didn't tell the reporter about waking up in the middle of the night a week or so earlier with an awful sense of feeling alone. She didn't acknowledge having brought an empty suitcase. Rachel watched from the other side of the camera.

[Rachel Marsden]

I remember looking at her going, seriously, like, you've not slept for days, your husband's missing and this is actually a really brave thing to do. She sat there and spoke with her whole heart about who he was and, you know, what was happening. This is our family member. Yes, he's an Australian, but please help us.

[Dave Cawley]

The TV reporter wrapped up the interview and left, rushing off to put together the story. Marilyn wondered who might see it. Would anyone notice? Would anyone care?

[Marilyn Khulstra]

That went to air that night. And of course then there was a little bit of response and the scout.

[Dave Cawley]

Leader came forward, a scoutmaster with a story about running into Eric, far from where he was supposed to be.

[Historical Voice Actor]

SA.

[Dave Cawley]

Uinta Triangle includes immersive field recordings made in real outdoor locations. For the best listening experience, please consider using a good pair of stereo headphones. And if you'd like to build a better picture of the places we visit, you can find maps, photos and [e-mail] that's uinta spelled uintatriangle.com find us on social media using uintatriangle. Bringing you this story has been an effort years in the making to support this kind of work. Please follow the show and share it with your friends. You can also help us by subscribing to Lemonada Premium right in your podcast player. It gets you access to exclusive bonus episodes. Here's producer Andrea Smarden with a peek at the latest bonus.

[Julia Geisler]

The Uinta Mountains are ancestral lands of Ute peoples. In Bonus episode four, Ute spiritual leader Larry Cespuch talks about his relationship to the Uinta Mountains, the origins of Ute place names you've heard in this podcast, creation stories and why it's important to know where you came from.

[Dave Cawley]

Uinta Triangle is researched and written by me, Dave Colley. I also did the field recording. Andrea Smarten is lead producer and sound designer with contributing producers Ben Kiebrick and Jenny Ament. Our main score and original music are by Alison Layton Brown. Additional voices in this episode from Jessica Lowell and Aaron Mason. Uinta Triangle is a production of KSL Podcasts and Live My personal thanks to the following past and present members of the KSL Podcasts team Aaron Mason, Amy Donaldson, Felix Bunnell, Josh Tilton, Kellyanne Halvorson, Nina Ernest, Ryan Meeks and Trent Sell. Finally, from me to you. Please remember wherever your life's trail takes you. No, none of us ever truly walk alone.

[Kate Bowler]

Suffering is inevitable and it sucks, but we're still expected to thrive. Everything Happens is a podcast for people who are tired of coffee, monk platitudes and want something with a little more teeth and a lot more heart. Each week, Duke professor Kate Bowler talks with guests like Glennon Doyle, Sharon McMahan, and Coach K about grief, absurdity, and the beautiful, terrible days we actually live through. No hustle culture, no silver linings, just real talk and good company. Listen to Everything Happens. Wherever you get your podcasts.