More than 200 join in Mt. Baldy memorial climb to complete man’s dream of 1,000 summits
Seuk Doo Kim’s dream to ascend Mt. Baldy 1,000 times was cut short. He fell to his death last month on the north side of the mountain.
In a symbolic gesture to help Kim reach his goal posthumously, more than 200 people climbed to the top of the 10,064-foot peak on Saturday.
Hikers pinned white ribbons to their shirts with the message “live like Sam.”
The mood on the summit was jubilant, as many shared stories of Kim and celebrated his life. They cheered, prayed, sang, posed for group selfies and attempted to release two white doves, which didn’t care to fly in the cold air.
“Sam is not here physically with us, but he’s in our hearts, he’s in our memories and he’s in our selfies — he’s here in spirit,” said Lissinia Aguilar, who helped organize the memorial trek with the local hiking group 3H. “This is his mountain.”
Kim, who had climbed Mt. Baldy roughly 800 times, died from injuries sustained in a fall northwest of the summit. An autopsy found that he had suffered “multiple blunt trauma” after falling down a mountain trail, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
As was his custom, Kim had parked his car in early April near the trail head at Manker Flats. His family became worried and alerted authorities when he didn’t return. Search teams combed the mountain for several days before a sheriff’s helicopter spotted his body more than 1,000 feet below the summit.
Kim was known to help distressed hikers by giving them extra food, water or directions.
Ethan Pontz, 37, of Carlsbad said he had gotten caught in a snowstorm in November at the top of Baldy. Facing white-out conditions, he and a friend lost their bearings. In the distance, he saw Kim climbing up the south side of the mountain.
“All of a sudden, here comes Sam with icicle eyelashes,” Pontz said. “He said: ‘I’ll help you find the way down, but only on one condition: that you take a selfie with me first.’”
Kim — who at one point last year ascended Baldy 100 days in a row — had a reputation for being irrepressible on the trail. He’d hand out jelly beans and Doritos, demand other hikers pose for selfies and chat with everyone he met.
His enthusiasm for climbing the mountain made him a minor celebrity among local hikers, most of whom knew him only as Sam. He was vocal about his desire for peaceful reunification of South and North Korea. And he didn’t hesitate to show his love of Mt. Baldy — the highest point in the San Gabriel range and Los Angeles County.
“I’m feeling God’s embrace — this is better than church,” Kim had been heard to say while climbing his mountain. “My shortcut is the Holy Spirit.”
In 1981, Sam and his family moved from South Korea to Southern California, where he worked as a manager at the Bank of Seoul. He later bought and operated a convenience store. At one point, he did not take a day off work for nine years, his son said.
Kenneth Kim told those gathered at the summit Saturday that his father’s death had left his family shocked, but he praised the support of the hiking community.
“What really helped us keep going was the spirit of the people here,” he said. “You guys are just so thoughtful, and you gave us a new sense of positivity and energy to live life the way my dad lived.”
Brandon Kim, 13, wrote a tribute to his late grandfather, part of which read: “Instead of lamenting his death and shunning the very mountain on which my grandpa passed away, we will do the opposite. We will celebrate his life. … Hiking was more than an activity to him. It was his own little way of connecting with God, of spiritually cleansing himself day after day.”
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