Well-known high school teacher falls to death on California trail

An island community in Washington is mourning the loss of a beloved former high school teacher who died one day into a trek on the John Muir Trail in California. Harris Levinson, 61, died near Whitney Portal, Inyo County Search and Rescue confirmed Saturday.

Levinson planned his solo backpacking trip for months, hoping to hike from Whitney Portal to Yosemite National Park along the famous trail. After dropping off a food supply cache at Onion Valley, a campground near the town of Independence, Levison left on the hike on June 23.

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Although he planned to reach Onion Valley by June 29, he failed to respond to loved ones on his Garmin satellite texting device, prompting them to check if he’d picked up his food. On July 8, a friend arrived at Onion Valley and found the food intact. That friend contacted Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park to report Levinson missing.

Searchers in Inyo County, where his hike began, soon found his vehicle still parked at Whitney Portal. Using data from the Garmin, searchers on the ground then located Levinson’s body at 9,400 feet in Lone Pine Creek. It appears he died on the first day of his hike, just a few miles into the journey.

Carolyn McCarthy, a friend who has been posting updates on search online, said Levinson fell about 100 feet into a gully, likely dying on impact.

“For reasons we don’t fully understand, he was hiking the climber’s route up Mt. Whitney,” McCarthy wrote. “Unlike the main John Muir Trail, this path is treacherous and difficult, and not very well traveled.”

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Levinson’s death has prompted an outpouring of grief on the island of Vashon, located in Puget Sound near Seattle. According to the Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, Levinson taught at Vashon High from 1997 to 2017, teaching countless students Spanish, American studies and theater. The paper said he was “widely known and beloved on Vashon for his remarkable work as a teacher, youth mentor and theater-maker.”

He was also an “avid hiker,” having completed a 12-day solo hike on Mount Rainier last year, the Beachcomber reported.

“Folks who connected with him in his final days report that he was joyful, eager, friendly, and full of appreciation for his life and the opportunity to go on this adventure,” McCarthy wrote. “In other words, he was Harris.”

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