Tribute

01/07/1985 - 10/15/2024

YOSAR 2019 - 2024

On October 15, 2024, Yosemite Search and Rescue Team member Chris Gay died in an accident on Mariuolumne Dome. This is a profound loss for the YOSAR family and for all of us here in Yosemite National Park.

Chris was a true Yosemite Search and Rescue hero and valued member of our SAR team. He would drop everything to help his friends, teammates, or visitors in need. Over the past nine years he responded to 179 SAR incidents, and many other incidents including his most recent deployment for hurricane response, where he made significant, lasting, positive impacts across the nation.

Chris spent years exploring our mountains and other ranges around the world with a quiet and friendly presence wherever he went. As a climbing steward, he shared his desire to climb routes with Lord of The Rings references and taught and shared his love of climbing and the park to others. During quieter times, those who got to experience his musical talents were always in for a real treat.

We wish Chris safe passage on his journey to Valinor – J.R.R.Tolkien’s "Land Across the Sea"--a place for the immortals.

04/18/1972 - 05/16/2015

YOSAR -

1981 - 2012

YOSAR 2011 - 2012

1977 – May 20, 2009

YOSAR

12/01/84 - 04/07/13

YOSAR

1948 ~ 2008

Pioneer of Yosemite SAR, Paramedic, Mountaineer, Mentor

Mead Hargis was a foundational figure in the early days of Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR), helping shape the team, systems, and ethos that define it to this day. Arriving in Yosemite in the early 1970s with his wife Tina (now Christina), Mead brought with him exceptional climbing skills, a deep sense of responsibility, and a quiet confidence that made him a natural leader in some of the park’s most demanding rescue operations.

Mead served in many roles—Camp 4 ranger, Little Yosemite Valley ranger, Tuolumne Meadows winter ranger, and eventually TM SAR Coordinator. He was instrumental in creating the first Tuolumne rescue cache, now the site of the current field office. He also helped initiate broader recruitment for SAR teams by sending notices to colleges and climbing shops—well before digital outreach existed—expanding the team’s skill base and diversity.

In 1977, Mead attended a paramedic program affiliated with Stanford and is believed to be among the first—if not the very first—EMT-Paramedic in the National Park Service. His medical expertise elevated the standard of care in the backcountry and inspired others to follow his lead.

He played key roles in some of Yosemite’s most significant rescues, including the Gaylor Lakes plane crash and the 1980 Yosemite Falls Trail rockslide, both documented in Butch Farabee’s Death in Yosemite. He mentored countless young rangers, modeled safety and calm under pressure, and brought a thoughtful, systems-based approach to backcountry emergency response.

Known for his integrity, dry humor, and relentless focus on safety, Mead left a lasting mark not only on YOSAR infrastructure and protocols but on the people who worked beside him. Friends remember him belaying partners while pretending to read a book, or leading teams through whiteouts with just a compass and instinct.

Mead later worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Utah, where he continued to innovate until early-onset dementia forced him to retire. He passed away far too young, but his legacy lives on in the people he trained, the rescues he led, and the culture of professionalism and care he helped establish in YOSAR.

He should be remembered as one of Yosemite’s true SAR pioneers—a steady hand in chaotic times, and one of the quiet architects of the team we know today.