Man found dead at Utah national park was on journey to scatter dad’s ashes, family says
A 66-year-old Texas man spent his final days traveling to national parks, hiking and camping, all while carrying his father’s ashes along for the journey.
But James “Jimmy” Bernard Hendricks never made it to his final destination.
On Aug. 1, the Austin man was found dead off a popular trail in Arches National Park in Utah, McClatchy News previously reported.
Hendricks started his adventure July 18 at the Caverns of Sonora in Sutton County, Texas. He snapped photos of the calcite formations and posted one to Facebook.
“Travels with Neil: A Final Journey with My Father. I am bearing his ashes west to the Sierra Nevada, stopping at special places along the way. This is the Cave of Clubs, at the Caverns of Sonora,” he wrote.
From there, he traveled to multiple national parks, including Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico; Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas; Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado; and the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona before making his way to Utah.
On July 26, Hendricks explored Zion National Park, where he gazed at a waterfall and sandstone monoliths known as the three patriarchs, he wrote in another Facebook post.
The next day, he posted photos of Bryce Canyon National Park and the popular “hoodoos.”
Hendricks had plans to reach Arches National Park on the early morning of July 29.
“Because I don’t have a traffic entry reservation for Arches National Park, I’m going to get there at the crack of dawn, before the traffic restrictions take effect. The light will be better for photographs early in the morning, anyway,” he wrote.
That was his last post. His body was found three days later.
Sister suspects his death was heat-related
Rangers haven’t yet released a statement on how they think Hendricks died, a spokesperson for the park told McClatchy News on Aug. 9.
But his sister, Ruth Hendricks Brough, said she thinks he died from the heat, otherwise he wouldn’t have strayed from the trail.
“He would have known about the delicate biological crusts that exist in the Utah desert. He would not have left the trail to take a better picture,” she wrote Aug. 8 on Facebook.
Brough also said rangers found an empty water bottle when they discovered his body.
“He had done extensive hiking and camping before he reached Utah. It was all too much for the nature boy, our sweet Jimmy. But now I believe he’s at peace,” she said.
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