In Memoriam - TalusMonkey, you will be missed

[Kiefer]

I had a hard time at work last night.
I work nights, stocking at a grocery store, but after reading about all this when I got home from finals, last night at work, went exceedingly slow, almost if I was mired in pitch-mopy, slow, cranky, quiet.
I actually never finished all my work.
I kept to myself, didn't really talk to anyone (completly NOT me) and you know, thinking back over the past year or so, to the times we hiked or went out for lunch or had a few beers, I would get REALLY PISSED OFF.
I don't know how many times I cussed him out. Then, when thinking about these memories, multiple times, I actually teared up and I'd have to leave and step outside.
I honestly didn't think it would affect me like this. I and David had some cross words a while ago and now I look back at that and I think,
Anger is such a small emotion. It robs us of life and vitality.

David, I miss you, man.

[Aubrey]

Had some incredible exchanges with TalusMonkey on this site, through the forums and PMs.

His humor was right on. But what really struck me about him was how genuine he was. He expressed his thoughts very clearly, and he was very kind. And like someone else said (sorry, can't remember who, read a lot of posts lately), he treated everyone with loads of respect -- regardless of whether you were a newbie or world-class climber.

I really hoped to climb with David this summer. Our plans weren't nailed down, but Jen and I were definitely wanting to do a climb with TM and some others. I received a PM from him about this just a week ago.

Anyone else remember his earlier avatar with the Enzyte guy? That was so TM. You couldn't not laugh when you saw that thing.

I'll miss TM's forum posts (his last one on his recent high points still makes me laugh), but more than anything else, I'll really miss the times I won't get to share with him.

Know that Jen and I will be thinking about him on Boundary Peak in a few weeks. RenoBob, we'll be right behind ya.

David touched so many people's lives. He certainly won't be forgotten.

[sdkeil]

Late last night I lost an amazing friend, his name was David Worthington (aka TalusMonkey). I still remember the first time we met and I asked myself is this guy for real. I remembered how obnoxious I thought he was; I thought how the heck can my friend Caroline like hiking with this guy. However after a few more hikes and many hours spent at the local Hooters (David’s favorite place to eat, not that I complained much either) eating breaded hot wings, the Monkey wore off on me, I knew I had made a life long friend. It was not hard for him to do that to you, because David had a way of making people around him enjoy life.

While perusing the scenery at Hooters, we shared many a good philosophical debates on guns, government, taxes and the environment (we only ever agreed on the last one). It was between these debates that David liked to talk on and on about his new summit costumes and how we were going to get a Hooters Girls’ photo shoot on one of the 14ers. I laughed to myself thinking no way could he ever get the Hooters girls to take a photo with us on the summit of a 14er. However, after a few consecutive weeks I started to think he may just pull this off (and I didn’t think anything would trump the purple pimp suit). I think to myself only someone with David’s charm could pull off a stunt like this.

In between our dining experiences I knew I had found a great hiking partner, as we knew how to push each other just enough to make the other one work, but never enough that it became a competition. David had a great knowledge of the hills and on Estes Cone we practiced some hard class 4 climbing; after this hike I felt like my skill had finally been honed and that I could proceed with my plan to start climbing the more difficult 14ers (for those of you who know me, I am one who takes a very cautious approach to things and I very much valued David’s propensity to error on the safe side of things.) We had many hikes planned this summer, many of them backpacking trips with other 14er members, what a summer it was going to be. Sometimes though I wondered if he thought each week had two weekends in it, because he was constantly emailing me with some new adventure.

Some of my most memorable TalusMonkeyism’s
1. David would walk an extra .5 mile just to avoid having to walk on a few rocks with his snow shoes.
2. David was so anal with his gear that after our “Lackawanna” hike, the first thing he did when we got to the hotel in Leadville was wash off the tiny amount of dirt that was on his gaiters in the shower.
3.David’s love for the Dew – It made me smile when I read CO Native’s SAR summary and he said David asked for some warm Mountain Dew because he said it was the nectar of the gods. I can so see him saying that, as we drank a whole two-liter of Dew while munching pizza at that pizza place in Buena Vista.
4.David planned so far in advance I think he was asking me what I was doing three years for now. He always had an adventure planned.
5. He truly was a TalusMonkey, the man could navigate downhill talus like no one I had ever seen. I think he was part mountain goat.
6. David marked every little feature as a waypoint in his GPS. I will very much miss his trip reports with the gratuitous usage of GPS coordinates.

Lastly, I want to conclude with recognizing the man that David was, for those of you who never got to meet him in person. I have purposely not read this thread so some things may be repeats of other peoples observations, however I didn’t want that to influence what I am going to write. My time knowing him was short and I know he has many friends who probably had known him longer and have even better stories. David was a lover of life, and life loved him back. He loved animals and was as avid supporter or rescue shelters. In his last email he sent to me he told me he was happy that they were going to build a solar array at the Federal Center so that way his prairie dog friends would have a place to live, this is just the kind of person he was. He was a simple person with not a lot of possession; because the only possessions he needed was his friends, his gear and the mountains he so loved. There were many things about his personality that were very quirky, but they always made you chuckle because it was the Monkey. I will very much miss my friend, but I have comfort knowing he achieved the ultimate summit. It was but a couple weeks ago that him and I had a conversation about death, he was convinced no one would care when he died. I am so glad he was wrong because we will all remember our TalusMonkey. You touched so many and forever you will be remembered. Goodbye TalusMonkey.

Your friend always,
Shawn

PS – David I will make sure you get your Hooter’s girl summit shot :D

[Aspen Summit]

(Released to the Public)

David,

You wrote me on Friday, May 4th asking whether I'm coming to Culebra this June 2007 since you didn't see my name on RenoBob's thread. I am sorry for the late reply...and I am sorry still to hear of your untimely passing I am crying

I hope we will meet in the Next Life so we can climb together like brothers. Good-bye for now, Climb On, and Climb Well! My thoughts and prayers are with your parents and USAKeller.

Knight
--------
"When Time who steals our years away, shall steal our pleasures too, The mem'ry of the past will stay, And half our joys renew." -Thomas More, 1779-1852.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: TalusMonkey
To: Aspen Summit
Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 2:52 pm
Subject: Culebra

Aspen,

Are you going to come to Colorado to do Culebra in June? A few months ago it seems like you were planning to come down, but I did not see your name on the "registered" list on RenoBob's thread. You were going to get court in recess, right?

Just wondering. I am coming down Friday night June 22 to stay at the San Luis Inn, but I won't repeat Culebra the next morning. Just coming down to meet everyone and socialize.

David

_________________
"When hiking in bear country one doesn't need to be the fastest runner in the party - just not the slowest."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[jamienellis]

Very beautifully written, Shawn (sdkeil). You really summed up the essence of 'the TalusMonkey'! :D I couldn't help but chuckle when I read your 'Talusmonkeyisms'

To add to them:

We always teased David because he called everyone by their screen name, no matter how well he knew them. I think it was Kate who said earlier that he had no shame calling you up at 6am on a Saturday to see if you wanted to go snowshoeing. So true! I can remember several such phone calls this fall "Hey, it's the TalusMonkey. What are you and shanahan96 doing today?" or "CODave and I are planning on camping next weekend", "I'm planning a trip to go see WyoMtnMan (sometimes shortened to Wyo) next month."

The Mountain Dew. I'll never forget my reaction when having dinner with he and Caroline at a restaurant in Boulder. The waitress came along and asked if we would like some water. He says, 'no I can't stand water.' What??? How can you not like water?

David and his GPS co-ordinates! The first time I ever met he and Caroline we were camping before a climb of Uncompaghre. We communicated over his infamous FRS radio on the TalusMonkey privacy channel to tell him where we were camped. As soon as he arrives and gets out of his Enterprise weekend special rental car, with great excitement, he says: 'Man, what a great camp spot. I'm going to mark some way-points!'

Thanks for letting me share some of my favorite 'Talusmonkeyisms.' I will miss them so much...

[Dave]

TalusMonkey, here's a nice tall Colt 45 and a sip of Captain to you. We'll miss you man.

[Hiking Mike]

God this is terrible. May you rest in peace, Talus Monkey.

Lovliest of lovely things are they
On Earth that soonest pass away...
(William Cullen Bryant)

[MountainMatt]

My prayers go out to all family and friends.

To the rescuers: thank you.

My heart is deeply saddened by the loss of a true mountaineer.

[Charla aka Chulabelle]

I have been out of town all weekend. I can't describe the feeling in the pit of my stomach last night when I saw the story on the news. I instantly recognized David in the picture posted above the caption "missing hiker found" At first I thought he was okay. Then I realized he was gone. Just gone...
I live in the same town as David, we met here on 14ers.com. We had dinner several times last year and he showed me photo albums full of "peak shots."
I have only lived in Colorado for 3 years, of all the people I have met here, he was the grandest mountain climber, lover, and friend I've known. We spent hours talking about trails, hiking gear, goals, etc. I learned a lot about these mountains and the thrill of climbing from David.
I still can't believe he's gone.
I am sad to say we never got to hike together. We were schedule to do Mt of the Holy Cross but I was waiting on a friend who said he wanted to do it with me. I remember David telling me, "if he doesn't committ, go without him!"
I will never forget the thrill in his voice when he called and told me he climbed the last of the 14ers....
God's speed!!!

[AzScott]

Shawn and Jamie: well written. That about sums him up! I got a good laugh remembering how anal he is about not only cleaning his gear, but himself. David had a remarkable ability to swim in some of the coldest lakes known to man, as that picture of him in Little Gem Lake on our Snowmass trip illustrates.

Just a day before he left for Humboldt, he sent me an email talking about how much he loved being in the rural areas of the Dakotas and Wyoming on his "summit" adventures in the plains. He mentioned that he missed the rural feeling of lonely highways with occasional passer-bys waving their hellos and how much he wanted to go back to that. His postcard from North Dakota showed up here in AZ yesterday. Here's to hoping you're out of the city now, my friend.

[cftbq]

I didn't find this sad news until Wednesday morning. Of all the things I never expected to read...
Like many others, I never met him, but enjoyed his posts. This is a climber who will be rightly missed. I will take solace in the fact that, although his life was sadly cut short, it was packed with fabulous experiences, many of which I am still trying to emulate. I was so heartened to read USAKeller's statement that she won't let this keep her from going back to the mountains. Me, too; climb on! RIP.

[geol_climber]

Rest in Peace. The Mountain Climbers will miss you and now you are with the Gods of the mountain, Hopefully people will remember , Cheers