He lived (and died) through every Backpacker's WORST Nightmare…

I am struck by the fact that the last act this man did was to be concerned about the impact finding his body would have on someone. To be that considerate when in such a desperate situation speaks very highly of him.

I was a close friend of Otters and fellow Thru-Hiker. My Wife and I went out the first week of Dec to look for him but the conditions when we got there were back to back snow-storms. You did a great job re-telling the story and i can't disagree with any of your details. When we heard that the Ranger in Grants had spotted him we left the area and drove down there stopping at all the Hiker towns posting flyers and hoping he was still going. (it never made sense from knowing him, that he wouldn't have been in communication with his friends and family if he kept hiking on). He was hoping to be in Ghost Ranch for ThanksGiving(92 miles from Cumbres Pass) and i think that was part of his decision to leave when he did. He was a one of a kind soul and a beautiful human being who created a true life of freedom. I never met a human who was so at peace in nature and felt more at home in it than anywhere else. Miss him greatly and was blow away to see a recap video of his death. Thanks for your video it really told the story that unfolded for Otter. You should make a video of his Life hiking. He was truly, in the world of Long distance hiking an elite. whose hiking feats are mind blowing. The thing with Otter was there was no ego with him. When hiking with him you'd have no idea you were with hiking royalty. He wrote a book called "The Otter Diaries" Life is a Hike.. a good book to find and read if your looking to find out more of the human he was.. thanks again

The fact that, in his darkest moment, still took the time to write that note so he didn’t traumatize a innocent person gives a insight that he was a good man at the core.

I hiked with Otter briefly on the PCT in 2013. He was a kind and gentle soul. RIP Otter.

Poor Otter. In his delirious state, all he could worry about was ensuring that no one stumbled across his body and got traumatized. He was a good person, clearly, leaving that note.

Many of the SCUBA divers who die are experienced as well. They get super comfortable, then start solo diving. When going solo, simple things can kill you. Humility is always warranted.

Regardless of Otter's poor decision, it's really disappointing to hear about the incompetency of the search team; they literally had one job. Why they would call off or slow down a search due to unverified eyewitness testimony is extremely sad.

I'm 70 now. Way back in my youth I did MANY solo backpacking trips in wilderness in all kinds of weather. I was careful but I have numerous times that I came very close to The End. One time I was 100% sure I'm not going to make it through that night. Seeing this story and thinking back to those days of no GPS or electronics to reach anyone, I thank God for being with me in my craziness. My motto was, "The woods can make a fool out of anyone. If it could talk it would say, I didn't ask you to come out here."

The frustration of not having the strength to go on while slowly wasting away is something I don’t have words for RIP Otter

This is insanity to me. Missing guy, hasn't picked up his resupply box, I'm focusing on the area between those two points. Check, on foot, all camp grounds and standing structures along the trail. The rescue teams there are incredibly capable, he wouldn't be the first person they hiked up to get. Eight weeks this man waited, at their slowest pace, rescue could have made it in two weeks. This blows my mind.

It broke my heart when Otter started describing the nature of waist-deep snow. When you get over 50 years old you run out of stamina. I notice it when I'm in shin-high snow. I'm not in my 20s and 30s any longer. Be extra careful if you're older. RIP Otter

The takeaways for me from Otter's story: - always have a paper map with you - always have a compass with you - never do drugs when hiking - write a journal regularly and frequently, not just about the hike, but about your decisions, feelings, thoughts, condition, etc. - if you are about to die in a situation like this, put on notifications about your body for future finders

My Dad and I were backpacking in the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho back in 2020. It was very late September, and the weather had been great so far, still warm during the day. The 10 day forecast my dad printed out for that area said it would be partly cloudy for most of the trip with a chance of rain some days. After a long day of hiking, we made our base camp in a nice valley next to a small glacier lake (can't remember the name) so we could do some day hikes from that point and come back in the evening. Our GPS showed our spot was about 11 miles from our truck. The hike down to our base camp was really steep, to the point where we had to really dig our poles and heels into the ground and lean back to not slide down. I remember my dad saying, "Going back up this is gonna be a b*tch." I obviously agreed. On the 5th or 6th night, it got really cold out. Our thermometer read 19 degrees. Much colder than we expected for September, but not anything we haven't camped in before. Then again, we were at 8,500+ feet, so I didn't think much of it. The next morning, I woke up and it was still cold as hell. I popped my head outside the tent and I saw my dad sitting in his chair just staring up at the clouds in silence. It was strange, almost like he was studying them. I asked him what he was doing and he just said, "Let's eat real quick and pack up. I think we should head back today." I was pretty pissed that he wanted to end the trip so early, considering I took off 2 weeks from work and we planned on staying out here for 10 nights. I knew better than to argue with him about this kind of stuff, though. After breakfast, the clouds parted and it was nice and sunny out but still cold. I pointed this out to my dad but he had his mind set on us leaving. I begrudgingly went along with it and helped him pack up. Long story short, the weather was really nice on the way back to our truck. Sunny and chilly. We made really good time hiking the 11 miles back to the truck. Couldn't have taken us more than 6 hours. It was getting dark by the time we drove the few miles down the trail and were back at the highway, so we decided to stay the night in the nearest small town at an overpriced tourist Inn. The view from our window was perfect for looking at the Sawtooth Mountain range. The next morning I woke up and to my surprise it was snowing in town. I looked over at the Sawtooth range, and I honestly felt sick when I saw that the mountains were completely snow-covered. I looked up the forecast on my phone, and a very early winter storm was coming through the area, going to last a few days. If it was snowing this much in town, I couldn't even imagine what it would've been like back at our campsite. The realization that we could have been stuck in that steep valley with no winter gear still haunts me. I couldn't believe we were that lucky so I asked my dad how he knew. My dad insists that he just somehow knew it was going to happen, but he didn't want to freak me out. He said he had a really bad feeling in his gut that night when it got that cold out, and he couldn't shake it. I remember that despite all of the trouble we just avoided, potentially being stuck in a snowstorm in a steep valley, he was still more scared of my mom finding out about the situation we could've been in. With all seriousness, he said, "Don't tell your mom." Edit: Thank you all for your kind words. And yes, we eventually ended up telling my mom. Needless to say, she was pissed. I've never second guessed my dad again.

I got lost for 3 days in Kootenai National forrest and it was horrifying especially the first couple hours of panic but once I settled down and got my bearings I knew if I headed west I would encounter some civilization east would be towards glacier National park and ya no.. I eventually stumbled onto a farm and the old farmer and his wife scolded me but were very kind and fed me and even drove me 3 hours back to my vehicle

It’s so crazy he saw the rescue plane like damn i couldn’t imagine being in that hopeless of a situation 😭

I was in Canadian military. I hiked mountains 2 out of 4 weekend's, a month. I got stuck in a place called suicide bluff. Rescued, by search team, and on the news. I couldn't sleep for six months, studied real survival. No knife, no fire etc. 30 years later I'm good. But NEVER rely on that. Always tell someone where you are going !! By the way, I was w friends, but got separated.

As an experienced hiker, I always say, "Be careful of overestimating your abilities and underestimating nature's."

A Personal Locator Beacon is a "must have" for every hiker... even (and especially) short day hikers. RIP Otter.

Truly a cautionary tale to aways respect the mountain, no matter how experienced we believe we are. You cannot simply go hiking in the wild in horrible weather, with no maps and stoned outta your mind. So sad such a seemingly nice nature-loving man died so needlessly.

What a sad ending. Even with all his experiences and expertise he still made a bad judgment call. RIP Otter ✝️