CA CA- Harold Loris Drake, 76, Big Sur, 8 Jul 2015

[Pennysmom1]

Harold Loris Drake – The Charley Project

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Drake, circa 2015

• Missing Since 07/08/2015
• Missing From Big Sur, California
• Classification Lost/Injured Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 09/03/1938 (85)
• Age 76 years old
• Height and Weight 5'9, 160 pounds
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• Clothing/Jewelry Description A gray shirt, black pants, black suspenders and hiking boots.
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• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. White hair, blue eyes. Drake wears eyeglasses.

Details of Disappearance​

Drake was last seen in Big Sur, California on July 8, 2015. He was camping together with a friend at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park when he told his friend he was going for a hike. He left the campsite, carrying a gallon of water and a small backpack with snacks. He said he'd be back by afternoon, but he never returned and and has never been heard from again.

Drake was retired at the time of his disappearance; he had previously worked as a high school math teacher. He's described as physically fit and an experienced hiker. An extensive search of the park turned up no sign of him, but he is presumed to have died in a mishap in the wilderness.

Investigating Agency​

• Monterey County Sheriff's Department 831-755-3722

Source Information​

• California Attorney General's Office
• Strange Outdoors
• KOIN 5/46
• Facebook Page for Harold Drake

Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated October 15, 2018; casefile added.

 

[Pennysmom1]

More photos of Harold from Charley Project

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Drake, circa 2015


Jan 6, 2018

The strange disappearance of Harold Drake from Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park — StrangeOutdoors.com

Harold Drake, disappeared July 8, 2015, Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, California. Revised July 2024 Harold Drake, 76, was last seen on July 8th, 2015, when he told a friend that he was going on a long hike while camping in the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park in Monterey County, California.

www.strangeoutdoors.com

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[Pennysmom1]

Harold Drake - Sierra Club Master Trail Builder

The Loma Prieta Chapter remembers Harold Drake, who dedicated over 40 years of remarkable service to our local trails. Harold Drake loved back-packing, but he also liked building trails. He felt strongly that if he built new trails he would be giving back to the past trail builders whose trails...

www.sierraclub.org

 

[clorenc]

Ah, this is my neck of the woods. I vaguely remember this hiker going missing.

Pfeiffer SP — and all of Big Sur — is an exhaustingly popular place all year round, and especially during the summer. Some of the trails would have been extremely busy when he was there. Whatever happened probably happened pretty quickly, if no one saw/heard anything.

The state park butts up right against the national forest, and it doesn’t take long to get into the wilderness. It would be helpful to know if he told his friend how long he expected to be gone for, to get an idea of how far he intended to hike.

Seems unlikely that he met with foul play. For what? Most park visitors are just tourists with no bone to pick with a random hiker. Sure, there are local stories of illegal marijuana grows and cartel activity in Big Sur, but he’d have to get really lost to stumble upon anything like that, so that seems far-fetched.

Looks like it was only about 70 degrees that day and he reportedly left with a gallon of water, so I doubt he suffered from heat stroke — although some of those south-facing trails have no covering and can just absolutely bake in the sun, even if the temperature doesn’t reflect how hot it truly feels.

The Big Sur coast is unforgivingly steep, and most ravines/canyons — some very difficult to access and pretty untouched by humans — are absolutely dense with vegetation.

My best guess is he had some kind of medical emergency, like a stroke or rattlesnake bite, and lost his footing. Depending on which part of a trail he was on, a fall could be stopped by trees or brush. But in other parts, a body could be lost forever. Helicopters and search and rescue teams can only see so far down a canyon — and it’s a large area to search, especially with no indication of the direction or distance he hiked.

I’ll ask my dad about how likely it would be to get lost on the trails at Pfeiffer, as he’s far more knowledgeable about the trails than I am.

I will say that — as heartbreaking as this must have been for his loved ones — I’m hoping that if he did die, he did it doing what he loved best, and in such a wild, beautiful place.