Man Dies at IceWater Spring Shelter

[sidebackside]

How sad it must have been for his friends.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/ma...medium=twitter

[freefall]

Wow! Thanks for sharing.

26 Years old- just shows none of us know when is our time. Rest in peace Ross.

[Mrs Baggins]

So young. Younger than my oldest child. How very sad.

[Manwich]

Lucky Bum.

Died doing what he liked, and in his sleep.

[Don H]

Very sad. Please post if they follow up the story.

[cravj1988]

According to the shelter register at Icewater Spring shelter this was an accidental overdose. 12 people were in the shelter Friday night. Evidently the deceased had too much to drink. Ross S. Enderle was a L.Cpl in the United States Marine Corps.

My Mom, Dad, Bacon Bits and I were hiking up from Newfound Gap Saturday morning out to Charlie’s Bunion. We were taking a break, looking west toward Mt. LeConte about half way up to the shelter when we met a thru-hiker who had gone into Gatlinburg Friday night.

He told us that some of his buddies, who did not hitch into Gatlinburg, went on to Icewater Spring Shelter Friday night. Saturday morning they sent him a text msg that a section hiker had passed away in the night.

He was in a hurry to catch up with his friends to find out the story. About 5 min later, the Rescue/Recovery team was coming down the mountain sobo on the AT, attached to a gurney. We immediately recognized the situation and stepped off the trail.

It was a very professional team of 8 strapped to the gurney moving very quickly down to Newfound gap. “Please… off the trail 2 feet, Medical Evac, off the trail 2 feet…” the lead man repeatedly yelled. Then we saw the body bag. It was an extremely sad and somber moment.

The recovery team was followed by the 3 companions of the deceased. All had military backpacks. One of the 3 had two packs, one on his back and the other on his chest.

I offer my sincere condolences to family and friends of L. Cpl. R.S. Enderle. Thank you so much for the sacrifices you made to defend our Country and way of life. Sorry that we could not be there for you. Rest in Peace.

[Graywolf]

This is very sad indeed, but do we really need two threads of the same incident going at the same time??



Just saying..

Graywolf

[sidebackside]

This is very sad indeed, but do we really need two threads of the same incident going at the same time??



Just saying..

Graywolf

No we don't Graywolf. I posted in the other thread, which was created before this one, that I obviously didn't search hard enough to see if anything else had been mentioned about this.

[sidebackside]

According to the shelter register at Icewater Spring shelter this was an accidental overdose. 12 people were in the shelter Friday night. Evidently the deceased had too much to drink.

Could you be more specific about what the registry said? I'm not saying your wrong by any means, but, obviously something this sensitive needs to be accurate before other assumptions are made. Again, I'm not saying your lieing or anything like that at all, but when you say, "according", what was it you read?

Thanks Cravj

[Graywolf]

No we don't Graywolf. I posted in the other thread, which was created before this one, that I obviously didn't search hard enough to see if anything else had been mentioned about this.

Thanks Sideback, still an unfortuanate incident..How do we know it was an accidental over-dose?? The reports of cause of death has yet to come in...

Graywolf

[sidebackside]

Thanks Sideback, still an unfortuanate incident..How do we know it was an accidental over-dose?? The reports of cause of death has yet to come in...

Graywolf

That's what I was thinking. But apparently something was mentioned in the shelter, so says Cravj. I'd like to know what it said because, mentioning something about an accidental over-does, if found not to be true (though it may be) could cause alot of up-roar.

[TallShark]

I was hiking this particular section on saturday as well and witnessed the team of individuals, as i was about .5 miles away from the shelter, very proffesionally remove this poor boy in a bodybag from the mountain. when we finally reached the shelter the aforementioned log-book entry was exactly that... a sad case of alcohol poisoning.. you should have seen his friends faces, a very somber event indeed.

[bulldog49]

Lucky Bum.

Died doing what he liked, and in his sleep.

Really dumb comment.

No one who dies at age 26 is lucky. I'd rather die at 90 doing something I didn't like than at 26.

[JAK]

Side note: It is possible for a person to asphixiate if they vomit in their sleep, so that is something to keep an eye on if you or someone else is likely to be sick while they are sleeping. You can sleep on your side with your pack at your back or something like that. Not presuming anything. Just something for people to keep in mind.

[gruxhud]

The victim was a dear friend of mine, so before you speculate on the cause of death, why don't you get the facts, first. Clearly, they're not just going to automatically rule the cause of death as alcohol poisoning on the initial discovery of the body. Instead of speculating, we should be using this as a wake up call, life can be so short and come to a halt at any given moment. Ross served for roughly 2 years in Iraq, he witnessed things over there that we couldnt even fathom seeeing. He was the most positive, adventurous, high spirited person I knew. He will be missed by so many. All of us here are going through a very dark time without his presence. Such an unexpected tragedy. I hope he is looking down and acknowledgeing just how deeply he impacted so many lives...

[SGT Rock]

My sympathies to the family.

[Graywolf]

The victim was a dear friend of mine, so before you speculate on the cause of death, why don't you get the facts, first. Clearly, they're not just going to automatically rule the cause of death as alcohol poisoning on the initial discovery of the body. Instead of speculating, we should be using this as a wake up call, life can be so short and come to a halt at any given moment. Ross served for roughly 2 years in Iraq, he witnessed things over there that we couldnt even fathom seeeing. He was the most positive, adventurous, high spirited person I knew. He will be missed by so many. All of us here are going through a very dark time without his presence. Such an unexpected tragedy. I hope he is looking down and acknowledgeing just how deeply he impacted so many lives...

Thank You Grux, my nephew just came home from the Marines after a 2 year tour of Iraq..It saddens me when incidents like this happens..My best goes out to the family and friends such as you.. Today I am playing at a war memorial here in Dallas, and I will keep him in my thougts as I play..Thanks again for the post..

Graywolf

[safn1949]

C Co 1/35 salutes you. A sad day indeed.

[gruxhud]

Thank you for your kind words. It's amazing the extra step strangers will take just to add a short note of condolence or some good wishes. Ross was just that type of person. Thank you for your sincerity.

[Lyle]

I agree that assigning a cause of death at this stage is probably pure speculation. While there may be reason for this to be a highly suspect cause, it could not be definitive without an autopsy. Let's all just wait and see what the official investigations find.

In the meantime, no matter if alcohol played a role or not, it is a tragic situation and I offer my sincere condolences to this young man's family and friends. What a shocking and sad thing to have happen on what was to be an enjoyable adventure. Best wishes to his survivors.