Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
bozo
Social climber
Reno, NV
|
|
T. Charles
The truth be known, T. Charles has not been with us for some time. But when he was with us, it was a wonderful time. Even in the best of days, he was a little vague and you sometimes wondered where his mind had been.
He used to bring a case of canned tuna to Camp 4, that he ate out of the can—after removing the oil—with garlic red wine vinegar. I ate it too, and still do, when nobody is looking. I remember that he and Valerie ate Pream straight out of the bottle. They sat at a picnic table with a spoon between them.
We used to drive around Joshua Tree in his ford falcon station wagon, one or another of us on the roof. Sometimes in daylight, and other times at night. We used to bloody our hands in jam cracks. In those days, nobody taped.
Every fall, T. Charles would purchase a couple of pairs of Levis and some white t-shirts, and he would go back to school in San Jose. Nucular Engineering, he called it. It took him months every year to recover from school, but he was always in great shape by September.
T. Charles had the thickest hair of anyone I ever met, and running your hand through it was like stroking a Yosemite Bear.
On occasion, Valerie would force him to write an actual letter. His most recent love was Point Reyes. We were going to join him there some day, but we didn’t.
We loved him and we miss him.
M. Peter.
|
|
Yeti
Trad climber
Ketchum, Idaho
|
|
I spent a lot of time with Tom in Tuolumne and found him a fine mix of high intelligence, spaciness, good intention and friendliness. I liked him a great deal. My condolences to his family and friends. RIP
|
|
j. Gerughty
Social climber
Pacifica
|
|
It is wonderful to see the posts about my eldest brother Tommy. He had been very sick with congestive heart failure the last 5 years - probably longer.
When our father was alive, we did not know how ill Tommy was. My brother David and I took care of him after our father passed. He became slightly more social. He was always kind, thoughtful,generous,stubbornly independent and interested in talking about travel and academics. When he recovered, he wanted to do a family river trip in the Grand Canyon. He often mentioned Gail and his climbing friends. We will do a memorial of some kind next month or so TBA. He will be cremated on the 5th and his name will be on a memorial wall at Cypress Lawn. I have been on the phone with Gail and she said she would help make contact with those who might wish to attend the memorial. I would really like more info on his climbing days, his accomplishments etc. I am sure those climbing days were the best part of his life. My email is dejong4js@aol.com
|
|
2 l l
Sport climber
Rancho Verga, CA
|
|
Amazing photos, Ken -- Thanks.
|
|
Risk
Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
|
|
Tom will always stand tall as an icon of mountaineering for me. From the YMS tent at the TM Lodge in the late 1960's, Tom lead me and my buddy up on an overnight accent of Mt. Lyell that has forever changed my perspective of climbing, mountaineering, and wilderness travel. For about $30, Tom was assigned to lead two young teenagers up Mt. Lyell. Tom took the job seriously, but soon transformed our outing from an expedition into a super-adventure free of any regiment or rules (besides safety). Before I knew it, Tom Gerughty showed me alternatives to mainstream backpacking food, campsite location, and climbing etiquette and attitude. Tom's teachings on that simple trip affirmed and built on my earlier teachings from my dad, my uncle, Axe Nelson, Fossil Climber, and others about the lure and mystique that makes our love for our sport a passion and way of life. Thank you Tom Gerughty for the gifts you gave me on those few simple days together.
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
Thinking of how smart Garooty was and how his Gail Friend loved to listen to what everybody knew was nowhere.
God rest ye Gherry mental man.
[Click to View YouTube Video]Gail played this tape in the Mtn. Shop constant, non-stop in the summer of '71.
"What's it like up there, T? Everybody wants to know."
East Ledges Area
Slab happy Pinnacle—The Dihardral
III, 5.10. Tom Frost and Royal Robbins, May 1961. This severe route, which lies in the corner forming the right side of the slab, was climbed without direct aid in August 1964 by Frannk Sacherer and Tom Gerughty....Hardware: 15 pitons, up to 2 1/2”.
--1971 Green Guide, $6.95.
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
Didn't really know Tom, met him once or twice in Camp 4. So very sorry to hear about his troubles and early death. Life can be so tough, I hope that he found some solace in his later years.
|
|
PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
|
|
I remember sitting in the Lodge cafeteria listening to his re-counting of the jumar/Nose mishap. He most likely caused a lot of us to use a backup when jumaring.
A friendly, happy, positive force on the climbing scene.
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
|
|
So awesome how all the right people come out of the woodwork for certain threads.
His eyes are really telling stories in that first picture.
It sounds like he made some really positive impact, even with serious challenges in his life.
Off belay, belay off.
|
|
Anne-Marie Rizzi
climber
|
|
I have fond memories of Tom.
Condolences to his loved ones.
Anne-Marie Rizzi
|
|
aspendougy
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
He was a good friend, and took me climbing a couple of times when I worked at TML 1968-72. He told me about the fall on El Cap where he shredded his hands, and also the early adventures, when, as a frightened, (somewhat pudgy at first, he told me!)neophye climber, Sacherer would yell at him, "Come on you Chicken S, get your ass moving" or words to that effect. He had his demons, I guess, but the good side of him, what a wonderful, sweet guy.
|
|
E
Ice climber
mogollon rim
|
|
tom was an instructor for Ysm in summer 71?
my father had me takin climbing lessons there after a sierra trip with the scouts culminated in the meadows. Gerughty was our instructor at the puppy dome. After that summer they trusted me not to be killin myself.
always wondered what happened to him.
|
|
BMcC
Trad climber
Livermore
|
|
Didn't know him, but echoing what survival wrote, there are some nice posts and pics on this thread from people who knew Tom and cared about him.
|
|
BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
|
|
I wish that I had known him. I have a special place in my heart for those who suffer from mental illness. The stigma attached is awful, and often they suffer alone.
Man. Zipping down a rope sounds pretty hairy.
RIP.
|
|
JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
|
|
I wish that I had known him. I have a special place in my heart for those who suffer from mental illness. The stigma attached is awful, and often they suffer alone.
BASE104, you express my feelings, too. As someone who has suffered and recovered from severe depression, but not alone, I wonder how many other climbers suffer from mental illness, and how many don't have the support I did.
In any case, this is very sad news to me. Like Warbler, I barely got a chance to meet him, but he was someone easy to like. It's meaningless to say we've lost too many, but I'll say it anyway. My deepest condolences to his family and friends.
John
|
|
Chris Jones
Social climber
Glen Ellen, CA
|
|
Tom was the most likable guy. In the spring of 1967 I quit my job and moved to camp 4. An expatriate English bloke with an uncertain future, I was welcomed by Tom and his circle of friends. The weather was pretty bad, so much time was spent hunkered down in camp - as Ken's wonderful photos attest. Tom had the most engaging laugh, was interesting to talk to, and on top of that was a damn good climber. We were lucky to know him.
|
|
Dick Erb
climber
June Lake, CA
|
|
Arriving home after work near Seattle one day, I pulled the mail out of the mailbox, and there was a 9x12 brown envelope over an inch thick from Tom Gerughty. I was alive with wonder as I carried the package into the house. I hadn't seen Tom for years. Pulling the contents out of the package I found mostly photo copies of various newspaper articles as well as messages from Tom. He wrote that he had been working at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, and if I remember correctly one of his responsibilities was inspection. It seems he found many things that had been done wrong and covered up. He raised the alarm but didn't get the response he expected, and not long after he found his mind becoming overwhelmingly strange and thought he had been slipped some drugs, maybe LSD. (Tom had never gotten into the popular drugs of the day.) From there he went on to describe what followed which could be interpreted as frightening events or serious paranoia.
I found out that a number of my California climbing friends had received similar packages and most thought that these bizarre stories he told were the result of Tom losing his mind on his own, but there were others who agreed with Tom that foul play brought about the changes in his consciousness.
|
|
Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
|
|
This is sad news.
Tom was a great guy and always fun to visit with in the early 70s when he came up to Yosemite. As others have recalled, Tom also send me long missives when he was lost in his paranoid schizophrenia.
I tried to connect with Tom a few times later but never had any luck. I regretted that I did not go find him when he first reached out to me with his weird writing.
My condolences to his family and friends.
|
|
guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 4, 2013 - 02:01pm PT
|
My recollection was there appeared to be a lot of validity in his accusations of deceit and corruption with the military industrial complex at Mare Island and as we all know you don't mess with the man when you are playing with his pocket book.
Was Tom on to something? Probably yes and no doubt the complexity and anxiety of investigating such intricate scams only contributed to his paranoia and problems. Would be nice to think of Tom as one of the original Whistleblowers but we will never know.
I remember his fascination with filming waterfalls in black and white and some of the stunning results of his work. We were all lucky to have spent time with him in our early years.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!