John "Jake" Quilter

[Jeffshadows]

While visiting the Madrona Ranger Station last weekend I encountered an NPS memorial to Mr. Quilter and immediately began wondering what could have happened to him (http://hikearizona.com/phoZOOM.php?ZIP=77770). A friend who works with parks forwarded me a newsletter that gave a few details:

John “Jake” Quilter, 26, March 8,
while hiking in the Rincon Mountains.

Jake was a trail crew member and a
first-year seasonal employee at Saguaro
NP. He had worked trail crew assign-
ments at Grand Teton NP, Grand
Canyon NP and Olympic NP.
The crew that Jake was with were
beginning a project to rehabilitate a fire-
damaged trail. His death, which
was not witnessed, occurred on the Man-
ning Camp Trail near the mountain’s
6,700-foot elevation. Jake had hiked out
ahead of his group and was found by
another crew member lying on the trail.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.

[azbackpackr]

A few details indeed! What was the cause of death? Self-inflicted, or not?

[Jeffshadows]

I was hoping someone would know. Maybe somebody who knew him will stumble across this post, at some point, and shed some light...

[Jeffshadows]

So I got the low-down on Mr. Quilter last Friday from an NPS L/E Ranger. Apparently, he was a very fit and super-energized member of the local Saguaro Trail Crew who had run ahead up Madrona to meet a chopper with supplies when he suddenly went down due to a congenital heart defect. The rest of the trail crew caught up a while later and he was discovered.

They are naming a new trail that will leave the end of hope camp and arrive midway up the Manning Trail in his honor. This trail will be part of the AZT system and will bypass Madrona and the pools by a wide margin, allowing direct travel from Hope Camp to Cow Head Saddle.

[big_load]

This trail will be part of the AZT system and will bypass Madrona and the pools by a wide margin, allowing direct travel from Hope Camp to Cow Head Saddle.

It's nice that they're adding trails, but is having the AZT bypass the pools a good idea?

[Jeffshadows]

They want to keep people out of Madrona and the pools are going to become a specially protected resource due to a few sensitive species that rely upon them, apparently...

[big_load]

On the other hand, there's Juniper Basin, where the designated campground sites immediately bordering the water source. Without hearing more of the discussion, it's hard not to see the decisions as somewhat arbitrary.

[Jeffshadows]

I think they're really worried about the possibility of Hantavirus hitting those passing through Madrona. We can all attest to how great people are at obeying warning signs!!

[azbackpackr]

So, I hadn't heard there is hantavirus at Madrona?

[fricknaley]

ehh, what's a little renal failure and pulmonary distress among friends?

[Jeffshadows]

So, I hadn't heard there is hantavirus at Madrona?

Huge outbreak in the early 90's. Station was permanently closed.

[big_load]

So, I hadn't heard there is hantavirus at Madrona?

Huge outbreak in the early 90's. Station was permanently closed.

That explains a lot. When I asked rangers in 2003 why that station was closed, the answer was way too long for the total lack of information it conveyed.

[Jeffshadows]

No one died, but it made a few folks really ill before it was identified and some stock had to be destroyed.

[cquilter]

I can shed some light. My name is Casey Quilter and I'm Jake's older brother. I stumbled onto your post this evening. Jake worked in the Olympics, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Grand Teton backcountry before signing on a seasonal job at Saguaro. He had an episode that was described by doctors as a seizure on a mountain in Switzerland years ago, but otherwise had a continuous clean bill of health from NPS. His whole life he was an outstanding athlete and had a reputation for being a quick, well-rounded, hiker. Jake enjoyed doing rock work the most (ie. building natural staircases). He spent so much of his time in the backcountry, away from phones and post offices, that we rarely heard from him. Personally, I thought that Saguaro was one of his easier assignments. Apparently he started that day like all others, hiking ahead to meet the supplies and load/offload. When his crew-mates caught up to him, he was sitting in the middle of the trail leaning against a root/stump unconscious. At first they thought he might have been bitten by a snake. He was given CPR for at least 45 minutes and a helicopter was called in, but he had been dead for awhile and would have certainly had brain damage. He died of a congenital heart defect, that for some reason picked that day to take his life in the Rincon's. We'll never know why. A major bloodvessel to his heart kinked and cut off the blood supply. It must have been some sort of spasm. Anyways, he loved his job and found peace in the mountains. We should all be so lucky to die doing what we love, just not that soon.

NPS was kind enought to help us with the rock and memorial placement. The crew there has been trying to find other ways to honor his memory and the trail in his name is one of their most recent efforts. Jeremy, the trail crew leader, is one of a kind and the trail crew community rocks. Can't say enough about NPS and their support.

[azbackpackr]

Thanks for sharing that with us Casey. Your brother sounds like he was a wonderful person. I'm sorry to hear what happened to him. I'm pretty sure Jeff will be around soon to post a comment as well.

[Sun_Ray]

Nice of Casey to take the time to share this info with HAZ members. Also good to hear that NPS folks are able to help honor Jake without getting bogged down in the usual red tape. Or maybe they did and battled through it.

[chumley]

[11/19/08]: I was hoping someone would know. Maybe somebody who knew him will stumble across this post, at some point, and shed some light...

[5/2/10]: I can shed some light. My name is Casey Quilter and I'm Jake's older brother. I stumbled onto your post this evening....

One of the best benefits of the internet (and HAZ).

Thank you Casey for sharing the story of your brother. A good reminder to all of us how fragile life is.

[Jeffshadows]

One of the rangers out there had told me the same thing but I'm really glad someone could tell us first-hand. That memorial is nice! Great place for it, too!

[Jeffshadows]

The Quilter trail officially opened this morning. It breaks north from Hope Camp and connects to the Manning Camp trail. They had a nice ceremony out there with members of the family in attendance. One can now legally through-hike the AZT from south of the Park. One of these days I'll get around to writing a trail description...

[pixelchip]

@cquilter

The Quilter Trail is not complete yet, but the trail crew has truly honored Jake with their work so far. I have never encountered such carefully crafted stone steps as those on this trail. I was especially struck with the stone work where the trail crosses a watershed about 1/2 the way up the trail, where the crew not only reinforced the steps with side shoulders to protect against erosion, but also paved the crossing with carefully placed stones to create a beautiful but rugged pattern on the floor. I think the crew has found a way to continue to honor him.