The text below appeared in the May 25, 1982, edition of the Daily Herald
Rod Collett, Herald Staff Writer
Utah County sheriff’s deputies today were hoping to dynamite a hazardous portion of the Aspen trail behind Mount Timpanogos after a 29-year-old Nephi man fell to his death Sunday.
Sheriff Mack Holley identified the victim as Terrence Brown, 29, of Nephi. He was an employee of the US Geological Survey working out of Denver, CO, when the accident occurred. But he was not working on any project when he began his climb Sunday.
Brown’s hiking death occurred in the exact same area as two fatalities two years ago when two men died in separate hiking incidents about one mile up to Aspen Grove trail.
Brown first was reported missing Monday morning when a fellow worker told the Sheriff’s Department about the man not being seen since 7:00 AM Sunday morning.
All three died when they fell on the ice-covered trail and into a snow cavern about 60 feet deep.
So hazardous is the trail area that explosives experts from the Sheriff’s Department, led by Sergeant Jerry Scott, planned to dynamite the trail and several fragile ice bridges to remove some of the extreme danger.
Holley said the county Jeep posse was called out to search for brown after an official missing person report was filed.
Just after the man was reported missing the Sheriff’s Department received a phone call from the Pleasant Grove Ranger district telling about a truck left unattended with a dog in the parking lot of Aspen Grove.
A party of three searchers Lieutenant Owen Quarnberg, Deputy George Cunningham and Brown’s co-worker hiked the trail and found the body about noon. The victim was lying face down in some water the body had a large gash on the back of the head apparently from hitting some rocks in the fall.
After making positive identification the rescuers hiked back and called an additional six men from the Jeep patrol to help carry the body down the mountain.
Holley cautioned hikers to stay off the high mountain trails along the Wasatch Front since hazardous snow conditions still exist.
“It can be very deceiving. While some trails look good and firm with the snow they are not. In this case water from a waterfall had eaten away at the snow and made small caverns under the trail.”
