Sad News

[peakbaggerbro]

Still hoping for an obituary, notice of service, etc. I would like to write to his family.

 

[peakbaggerbro]

When ready obit will be posted here.

The email address [email protected] is being provided for those who desire to directly communicate with the family

Please feel free to post this email address in any forum where he was active.

 

[DayTrip]

I am the brother of peakbagger posting as peakbaggerbro

I'm am a new member. I learning the ropes to post here.

Planning for a celebration of life is in progress and will be held in gorham nh. The date has not been set. It will probably be held on a Friday afternoon in early September after labor day

Would anybody here be interested in attending?

I suspect a few people will show up.....

 

[maineguy]

Shockingly sad news. When I hear about hikers passing who are younger than me, it just reinforces my belief that we should hike/climb/fish/bike/kayak as much as possible when we can. As the old saying goes..."tomorrow is promised to no one".

RIP Peakbagger and condolences to family.

 

[Andrew]

A life very well-lived!
...and thanks to him to have taken the time to share so much with us.
Already missing his writings.

 

[Ken MacGray]

Someone else we're going to miss is Larry Garland who passed recently. He was the AMC's cartographer for many years and give us all those great maps.

Do you have a link to an obit or something for that? His position at AMC was recently eliminated but this is the first I'm hearing of him passing away.

 

[KRooney]

Do you have a link to an obit or something for that? His position at AMC was recently eliminated but this is the first I'm hearing of him passing away.

I misspoke. It was Larry Babcock who passed away, not Garland. Sorry for the confusion,

 

[HAMTERO]

I am sorry to hear of his passing. I never met him but he was a highlight on VFTT with his wealth of knowledge.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

So sad the hear.
I had the honor of hiking out from Owls Head a few summers ago with him. He made the long trek back to Lincoln Woods go by so fast with his story’s all about different hikes to make sure I checked out in the Whites! “Promise me you’ll get to Baxter State Park at some point!!” Was the last thing he said to me before we parted ways.
You will be missed my friend

 

[KV]

My condolences. I fall in with the "never met him but benefited from his contributions on these forums" crowd. I'll miss him through his posts.

My heart is heavy for the family.

 

[arm]

VFTT "peaked" years ago, with more activity in the days before "social" media became the norm for folks to keep in touch, share pictures, etc ... as social media grew, activity on standalone forums like VFTT diminished ...

Dennis, more than most others, kept VFTT (and other forums like WhiteBlaze) active in recent years, sharing his vast knowledge of the Great Outdoors, especially northern New England, developed from years of experience living near the Great North Woods area of New Hampshire and exploring the world whenever he could ...


Dennis loved Baxter State Park (a Crown Jewel of New England), and the way he shared his knowledge conjures a memory from a 2007 trip where a few of us VFTT friends camped at Katahdin Stream CampGround on an evening where a local Indigenous Native American Tribe reserved the entire KS CG every year ...

we happened to arrive at KS on a day during the Tribe's annual spiritual journey where the Tribe canoes and portages many miles from their Home into the Park to their KS basecamp ... Baxter Rangers allowed us to camp in a remote walk-in tentsite, asking us not to disturb the Tribe's rituals in any way ...

we briefly observed the Tribe gather around a camp fire from a distance, like a surreal dream watching them create music, then hearing the Elders recount stories, with young Tribe members listening intently with wide-eyed wonder as they absorbed tales told by venerable Tribe Leaders ...

few in our circle develop a deep wealth of knowledge of culture and history and find a way to share what they have learned with others, the way these Tribe leaders honoured their traditions ... Dennis was a pillar of our hiking community in that regard, like a favourite old tree standing tall among a forest grove full of saplings yearning to reach the sky ...


Dennis was a salt-of-the-earth good man and a fun hiking companion ... it's good to "learn something new every day" and you knew you'd be learning something new when Dennis was around, on a hike or at a gathering ... ne'er a dull moment ...

Dennis lucked out on the Wonderland Trail lottery this year, setting up a sweet 8-day 93-mile backpack around Mount Rainier ... he invited hiking friends to join him, and it's a bummer he didn't get to enjoy this "Swan Song" journey ... Thanks to Dennis' Brother Gerard for helping us hold on to the WT reservation, which a small crew of us will be starting later this week ... we printed out a nice picture of Dennis to carry along the trail and hope to honour Dennis every step of the way ...

Dennis is one of a handful of friends who have posted a lot of helpful info on this forum ... not sure who runs VFTT these days, but it would be good to keep VFTT alive to keep knowledge posted here available ...

haven't seen an obituary but if there was an "in lieu of flowers" suggestion, maybe a small donation to keep VFTT alive a while, or helping the Randolph Mountain Club or Cohos Trail Association (two worthy clubs Dennis admired) with a donation or volunteering to join a trail work day might be a nice way to honour Dennis (Dennis' Brother agreed to these ideas, and might add more here?)
https://randolphmountainclub.org/
https://www.cohostrail.org/

RIP Dennis, and Peace to your Family and Friends who were lucky enough to know you ...

... maybe this post turned out to ramble on a bit, but you know ...

 

[BobC]

Very sad news. I had the privilege of hiking with Dennis a couple of times many years ago. He truly was the quintessential nice guy. Rest in peace.

 

[Daniel Eagan]

I would make a contribution in his name to whatever organization the family wanted. Would also appreciate an obituary or news of any memorial services.

 

[una_dogger]

Dennis/Peakbagger was such a great guy & interesting person, I’m so glad I had the chance to get to know him at some of Pat & Audrey’s Poltlucks. He will
Be missed by many.

VFTT was such an amazing place back in the days before social media, the mountains were quiet and I seemed to know so many folks I passed along the trail from here, I truly miss those days before social media, when folks gathered to discuss topics they love and have in common and share their hikes

 

[NHChris]

Lets all make an effort to attend Audrey's event this year. We owe it to each other!

And who know how many each of us have left...

 

[zea]

This is incredibly sad. I learned so much about the mountains and the north country reading his posts on here and WhiteBlaze. He always seemed like a larger-than life permanent fixture in this corner of the internet, it's almost surreal already not seeing his posts anymore

 

[NHChris]

Has anyone seen an obit for our friend Peakbagger? I've been following the Berlin Daily Sun but nothing so far.

I'd like to know what happened to my old friend, his cause of death, etc.

It's not morbid curiosity. I'd like some closure to our 25-year friendship.

Thanks.

 

[Rhody Seth]

A 72 year old perished on Mt. Washington last week. Hadn't seen a thread on here but then I realized that peakbagger was often the one posting those notices.

 

[Grey J]

The report that I saw said that he rode the Cog up and decided to walk down. He did not get far. He was found on the Gulfside Trail near the Westside Trail so it would appear he was heading for Jewell which would make sense. No name pending notification of next of kin and no cause of death as yet. The report said he was from Virginia. He was my age. Requiescat in pace amicus meus.

 

[CapeBLK]

Just saw this. Sorry to hear about peakbagger.