"Hawk is Gone"

By Brian Aberle

Given the news of late, I wanted to share this true story about my friend and neighbor Aaron, and his dog Hawk, that came to its rightful conclusion on March 17th, 2020.  I simply had to write about it.

Like so many others in my neck of the woods, Hawk and his owner Aaron are passionate about the great outdoors and are fit mammals. Aaron (the human), when he's not working as a doctor, has built quite a good following of people on Instagram who track his and Hawk’s exploits snowboarding down some of the most majestic and yet gnarly backcountry terrain a man and his dog could go to. In the videos, Aaron is often seen dropping down incredibly steep and deep snow only to have Hawk running not far behind.  The limited cartilage remaining in my knee aches when watching the videos. Though I still have my fair share of moments, I'm more in the "what could go wrong" stage of life these days.

On March 7th, Hawk, and Aaron took off from the Willowbrook Trailhead outside of Silverthorne, Colorado, in Summit County to enjoy a backcountry splitboard (a snowboard that separates for climbing) trip.  They had not done this climb before. The plan was to climb 4000 vertical feet to the top East Red Peak before dropping down the Big Eyes couloir and eventually back to the trailhead.  The video to the right is the top of said peak. You can play it to get a better perspective.

Everything seemed to go according to plan.  Aaron and Hawk, shown in the video wearing a dog coat and a backpack (for food and to carry Aarons helmet during the climb), started their descent. Yet this time, when Aaron looked back, there was no Hawk.  Aaron waited, he yelled, and he climbed back up, but no hawk. Hawk was gone. Due to darkness, he had to call off his search.

The next day, Aaron drove from Eagle back to the same spot to do the same exhaustive climb.  He couldn't make it back to the top, as climbing 4000 feet at altitude, two days in a row can really kick the crap out of you—no sign of Hawk.

Over the next seven days, Aaron did several pre-dawn/pre-work and weekend climbs in the same area to try and find Hawk.  On the last climb, and just holding on to any glimmer of hope, he decided with his family (his daughter and my son are in 1st grade together), that they could cut up some dirty clothes to potentially leave a scented bread crumb trail so that Hawk, if he were alive and just lost, could find his way back to the trailhead and maybe encounter a human.  

Still No Hawk.

We were heartbroken for his family. I said in a text to Aaron one night that "knowing Hawk, he'll just show up at the house one day." I mean, what are you supposed to say?

Then, on Monday, March 16th, Vail Resorts announced that it was closing its ski mountains due to the Coronavirus outbreak.  A family, who was in town from Kansas City for a ski vacation, decided that since they couldn't ski, they would go on a backcountry hike. They opted for the Willowbrook trailhead, which is not exactly close to any ski resort.  When they got to the trailhead, they found a stray dog, emaciated, banged up, dehydrated, and exhausted, but alive.  It was Hawk! He wasn't wearing his backpack.

He was lost deep in the backcountry of Colorado for ten days in the winter and survived. Un. Freaking. Believable!

While only Hawk knows what happens, the thinking is that during his descent, he may have got his backpack caught up on something.  Either that or he went in a bad direction, got lost and was resourceful enough to know that there was food in the pack, but how did he get it off?  If he were stuck somewhere, the amount of fight in that athletic frame of his was something otherworldly.  I know they say you can't take the fight out of the dog, but come on! As of this evening, March 17th, Hawk is home and resting. He is expected to fully recover.

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Aaron. I went surfing in California with Aaron in October of 2019. During the trip, I found myself befuddled while watching (safely from shore) Aaron try well after the sun had set, under near darkness and during what I like to call "sharky time" to try and catch one more wave.  I told myself "he's not crazy; he is just madly driven". Now I totally get it. Here's a guy that went up by headlamp, in the wee hours of the morning, over and over to try and find Hawk. I offered to join him one day on the search. Though my fitness is good for my age, and I have all the proper backcountry gear, I knew I would be no match for a man determined to find his pup. That was their moment. Damned if Hawk and Aaron haven't made my eyes well up a bit tonight over what perseverance and "not this time" mindset can do for us.  

I suppose I should wrap with a moral to the story, so this is it.  We are in tough times.  Things that were "just right" just a few weeks ago feel like they have utterly gone to hell for so many overnight.  I work in finance for a living, and it's no picnic right now, but I've got it quite easy compared to others.

We all likely will have friends and family who will be needing a few breadcrumbs of help over the coming weeks and months. Heck, we may be that person.  Hang in there, keep your focus and by all means, get yourself down the mountain.

LATE ADD - Aaron sent me a photo of Hawk on March 18th. He’s super skinny but ready to play ball. Let’s Do This!!! Go Hawk!

Wash those Hands!

Brian Aberle, CFP®

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