For years, whispers had circulated about the eastern face of Mount Hooker—odd murmurs carried on the wind, abandoned gear no one could account for, and seasoned climbers who swore the mountain watched them back.
Local guides warned newcomers to avoid pitching camp beneath the looming cliff bands, claiming the night air there carried voices that didn’t belong to any human and that shadows stretched in directions the sun could not explain.
Garrett Beckwith had heard the stories, of course. He simply didn’t believe them. An experienced climber with decades on the rock, he chalked the tales up to nerves and campfire exaggeration.
So in 2012, when he and his 19-year-old daughter Della set off for a father-daughter ascent of Mount Hooker, he felt nothing but anticipation. It was meant to be another unforgettable trip—hours of climbing, long talks under the stars, and a memory the two would share for years.
But somewhere along the remote wall, something went terribly wrong. The pair never returned.
🔍 Conclusion
For over ten years, the absence of Garrett and Della Beckwith cast a long shadow across the climbing world and gnawed at the hearts of their loved ones. When search teams finally located their isolated cliffside camp, relief came hand-in-hand with a deeper, more unsettling mystery. The discovery answered where they had been—but not what happened on that sheer, unforgiving face of Mount Hooker.
Even now, the mountain keeps its silence. The questions that linger—about their final moments, the conditions they faced, and whether the legends held a grain of truth—still drift through Wyoming’s backcountry. Their story remains a solemn reminder that even the most skilled adventurers can disappear into wild places, leaving behind echoes only the mountains themselves may ever understand.