Dave Cawley

I only learned of it when I saw his name in an official report about the search, and told him we needed to talk. Art and his hiking buddy Dan had started their trek about a week after Eric started his. They were crossing a forested stretch of the trail, a bit west of Chapita Lake, when they heard a helicopter overhead.

I only learned of it when I saw his name in an official report about the search, and told him we needed to talk. Art and his hiking buddy Dan had started their trek about a week after Eric started his. They were crossing a forested stretch of the trail, a bit west of Chapita Lake, when they heard a helicopter overhead.

The same chopper I mentioned a moment ago, on the first flight in search of Eric. I think at that point we had six more days to finish. And I want you to hear Art's side of this story, because he saw the search unfold right from the trail. First, though, let me tell you a bit more about Art.

The same chopper I mentioned a moment ago, on the first flight in search of Eric. I think at that point we had six more days to finish. And I want you to hear Art's side of this story, because he saw the search unfold right from the trail. First, though, let me tell you a bit more about Art.

He's a mountain goat, adept at finding his way through the trickiest of terrain.

He's a mountain goat, adept at finding his way through the trickiest of terrain.

Art knows the Uinta Mountains better than anyone I've ever met. But this hike in 2011 was his first time walking the Highline Trail from end to end.

Art knows the Uinta Mountains better than anyone I've ever met. But this hike in 2011 was his first time walking the Highline Trail from end to end.

But as I've said, 2011 was an unusual year. The Uinta Mountains aren't well known outside of Utah, but we're going to spend a lot of time in the Uintas, so it's important to develop a picture of the place. Imagine you're orbiting above the Earth, looking down on the western United States. You see the Rocky Mountains running north to south across Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and New Mexico.

But as I've said, 2011 was an unusual year. The Uinta Mountains aren't well known outside of Utah, but we're going to spend a lot of time in the Uintas, so it's important to develop a picture of the place. Imagine you're orbiting above the Earth, looking down on the western United States. You see the Rocky Mountains running north to south across Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and New Mexico.

The Uintas are a sub-range of the Rockies, a finger that juts out to the left from Colorado into Utah.

The Uintas are a sub-range of the Rockies, a finger that juts out to the left from Colorado into Utah.

Zoom in and you'll notice a barren stripe of elevated rock running through the middle of the range. This is the Uinta Crest, an unbroken spine of ridges and peaks rising above Timberline. It's the backbone. Spurs branch off the crest to both the north and south. They are the ribs.

Zoom in and you'll notice a barren stripe of elevated rock running through the middle of the range. This is the Uinta Crest, an unbroken spine of ridges and peaks rising above Timberline. It's the backbone. Spurs branch off the crest to both the north and south. They are the ribs.

The rocks that make up these bones were formed hundreds of millions of years ago when sediment buried deep underground transformed into a rock called quartzite. Then, tens of millions of years ago, a warp in the Earth's crust pushed that buried quartzite upward. As the rock rose, glaciers formed on it, ice chewing away, carving deep basins between the ribs. These basins are called cirques.

The rocks that make up these bones were formed hundreds of millions of years ago when sediment buried deep underground transformed into a rock called quartzite. Then, tens of millions of years ago, a warp in the Earth's crust pushed that buried quartzite upward. As the rock rose, glaciers formed on it, ice chewing away, carving deep basins between the ribs. These basins are called cirques.

Many cirques in the Hyuintas are today above timberline, home to an ecosystem called alpine tundra.

Many cirques in the Hyuintas are today above timberline, home to an ecosystem called alpine tundra.

The glaciers that sculpted the Uinta Mountains have been extinct for thousands of years. You can still see evidence of them, though, in many little lakes scattered across the range. These lakes are called tarns, and they form the headwaters of creeks and streams, each flowing down out of the tundra into subalpine forest, cutting river canyons.

The glaciers that sculpted the Uinta Mountains have been extinct for thousands of years. You can still see evidence of them, though, in many little lakes scattered across the range. These lakes are called tarns, and they form the headwaters of creeks and streams, each flowing down out of the tundra into subalpine forest, cutting river canyons.