My name is Ron, I lived in Yosemite in 1976 and 1977,
worked at the Ahwahnee Hotel. I am one of the so called
"hikers" actually on snowshoes, who found the airplane, or
the wing as it turned out along the trail to Lower Merced Pass
Lake and our ultimate destination, Ottoway Lake, in the Clark
range. We never made Lower Merced Pass Lake, pity, I often
wonder what would have happened if I had and figured out
what happened. When we returned to the valley after
camping on Ottoway Lake I reported to the Rangers that we
had found a wing in the high country and gave them the
numbers from the wing. Well all hell broke lose and in the
next few days the entire Valley knew the story of the plane
crash.
In April 1977 I returned with seemingly the entire Valley and
returned with a backpack full of pot. Which I quickly dried
and sold to a friend in San Jose. The next year I went back to
college and used the airplane money to make the move to San
Diego and pay for my first two years of college. Something
good did come from the "Loadstar Lightning".
Rich Schloss is a good guy and has interviewed me and we
have spoken on the phone a few times since. He is trying to
piece the story together from several angles. I personally
don't think there is any need to be fearful, statute of
limitations having long expired. If you really know something
first hand, NOT HEARSAY, (there are all kinds of Valley
myths), then I would encourage you to come forward and let's
get the whole story out. I have learned so much from him and
cleared up some of the myths I still believed about the event.
I HAVE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOWSHOE TRIP TO
OTTOWAY LAKE WHEN WE FOUND HE WING AND
THE POT SALVAGE IN APRIL ON-LINE at:
http://public.fotki.com/RonLykins/travel/airplane_1977/
The first 7 or so are at the lake in April (chopping pot out of
the ice) the others are the snowshoe trip when we found the
wing, shots of the wing included.
I look forward to reading Ricks book when it is realeased.
Let us know!