# chacoguy has passed **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2018, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345 "2018-01-10T18:03:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/41 "2018-01-12T05:38:16Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > First, my condolences. > > Second, the observation that a man who seemed very well-liked to the extent he had real life friends from message boards, was a local business owner, and very active in a variety of pursuits… went 2 weeks without being seen before someone checked on him? When I go I’m assuming no one will find me until the stench becomes too much. Since it sounds like he lived an adventurous lifestyle, I would guess people probably just thought that he was away from home and didn’t realize it was a sign something wasn’t right when they didn’t hear from him. So sad that this happened at the holidays though. ☹ He sounds like a good person and I am sorry that he and his pup are not with us anymore. If you are in fact in a situation where you are worried that nobody would find you if something happened to you, maybe you can identify someone on this board who you can check in with occasionally! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/42 "2018-01-12T05:56:48Z")
RIP, **chacoguy**. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/43 "2018-01-12T15:04:04Z")
Oh, this is such sad news! Tripler, you wrote a beautiful testament to a life well lived. Thank you for sharing that with us. Somehow this came to mind: [The Piper at the Gates of Dawn](http://www.online-literature.com/grahame/windwillows/7/) Condolences to his family and all those who grieve. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/44 "2018-01-12T19:45:25Z")
Thank you all, but please don’t thank me . . . thank Tom for being so generous to share everything he has and knows with us. We’re all better for having met him. Tripler Some angels don’t have wings–they have catarafts. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/45 "2018-01-12T19:57:52Z")
I know the name; sadly, I did not know the person. I’m grateful to Tripler and SmartAleq for giving us all a good sense of who **chacoguy** was, and very sorry he is gone. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/46 "2018-01-12T20:01:08Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > Thank you all, but please don’t thank me . . . thank Tom for being so generous to share everything he has and knows with us. We’re all better for having met him. > > Tripler > Some angels don’t have wings–they have catarafts. We’re thanking you for allowing us a view of **chaco** that few of us had. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/47 "2018-01-12T20:43:57Z")
Yes, thank you for showing us who **chacoguy** was for those of us who didn’t know him. We missed knowing an incredible person, obviously. My sincere condolences to all who are hurting. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/48 "2018-01-12T20:57:54Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > I am shocked! > > . . . and I am devastated. I consider Tom one of my greatest friends, and had a great dinner with him last Spring up in Durango. He isn’t that far up the road from me. Never short on generosity and warmth, you could always tell when he entered a room; between his booming voice, commanding presence, and the fact the temperature dropped in the room because he was the coolest guy to be around. I’d had several trips with Tom. The first was the big ol’ Green River Trip in 2011 where several of us floated down the Green River to Canyonlands NP, and almost died in a thunderstorm. **SmartAleq** , **KidVermicious** , and a few others all had an adventure-filled trip with fantastic memories of lunch on the river, and ice cream at the pull-out. > > The second trip with him was to Chaco NP, where he guided me through all of the ruins, and we spent a laughter-filled couple of nights around a campfire, at a strategic spot in the campgrounds that when sunset hit, washed the entire gulch in beautiful red hues and his hearty laughter. The man knows his Earth. The third was down the Colorado just outside of Moab where we took out the boats for a “early-season test drive,” and when camping that night, came across this gigantic “hippie rave” on the far side of the river (inside NP boundaries) with a sound stage, music, and about 150 young kids taking a break from college. Tom’s buoyant, extroverted nature fit him right in with everyone there. Later that same trip, we went to see some tucked-away petroglyphs that few knew about just off of I-70. > > The man is a true National Treasure, historian, conservationist, and naturalist. He had stories about Native American sites that _very_ few knew about, including a sandal left on a mesa for 1,500 years that he admitted, “ **Trip** , I’ll take you there . . . because you appreciate things and are _not an asshole_.” As a former Infantryman in the Nebraska National Guard, the stories he’d tell of trips and adventures could keep you enthralled for hours around those campfires, and they may or may not have included some nefarious activities at collegiate football games. [sub]Brother, the statute of limitations is up . . .[/sub] The man is more than a guide, he’s a walking encylopedia of terrain, legends, stories, and artifacts. > > I had the privilege to have dinner with him up in Durango last year over enchiladas and margaritas. There is no exagerating when I tell you that his voice and roaring belly laugh had other patrons of the restaurant continually glaring at us–but to hell with them! If they only knew the man they were dealing with, they’d be pulling up chairs around our table to hear his tales. > > I don’t consider him “gone,” but just down the river past the bend a little bit. In due time, we’ll all float down to see him beached on a sandbar with Chaco and Kiva scampering around, just waiting for us to catch up. I am honored to have been a companion on a few of his adventures. I owe the man my life, not because he saved it, but because he enriched it **that** much. > > Tripler > May your rivers be long and winding, my friend. I’ll see you downstream. This is an amazing tribute. I did not know the guy, but now I feel like I do. Thank you for shedding insight into the anonymity. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/49 "2018-01-12T21:17:35Z")
On the second trip I took with Tom, down the Colorado into Moab, we spent the last night on a beach across the river from a super spendy elite resort. We didn’t bother with tents, just set up our stuff on the beach and after three days on the river we were ripe and grubby AF. Best part about the resort is that they furnish high speed broadband and wifi access to their guests and had no password on the account, so we dirty hippie scruffs on the beach pulled out phones, tablets and a laptop and posted to the Giraffe Board right there from on the river. We got a leetle drunk and a lot high and laughed our asses off at how we were probably putting some rich people’s noses out of joint by spoiling their nice view. I slept that night with the head of my air mattress under a big tangle of dry brush with little brown bats circling endlessly a few feet above my head, eating the mosquito buffet that had gathered around to feast on my blood. I got not one single bite, the bats did their job so well, and I felt like such a part of nature right down to my bones. I don’t think I’d have ever made it out to those dry desert lands without Tom showing the way–he just posted an open invitation to anyone on the boards to show up and he’d make sure everyone had a place in a boat and an experienced guide to herd them through the rapids. All I had to do was make up my mind to drive a thousand miles to meet up and his boundless enthusiasm and generosity made it happen. He went to all that trouble and expense just to meet online friends IRL, and you just don’t see that kind of spirit all too often. I had really hoped to get him to come here to Oregon to try some of our rivers on for size, but alas, it’s not ever going to happen and that makes me sad. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/50 "2018-01-12T21:19:18Z")
More sad news. I enjoyed his posts and never realized how much he had affected other Dopers. Rest well **chacoguy**. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/51 "2018-01-12T21:30:52Z")
Wow, what an amazing loss for the SDMB and the world. He will be missed by MANY. Thank you for your fantastic stories \*\*TriPolar \*\*and **SmartAleq**. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/52 "2018-01-12T22:40:04Z")
Thanks, but it’s **Tripler,** not **TriPolar.** I know, it was **Tripler** who gave me a tow when I got too damned tired and couldn’t keep up! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/53 "2018-01-13T00:16:45Z")
And Tripler too. ::smack:: ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/54 "2018-01-13T07:54:59Z")
RIP. Chacoguy. I’ve read many of his posts and he seemed like a very good person and very knowledgeable. Too young. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/55 "2018-01-15T18:50:41Z")
I didn’t know him, but now I wish I had. RIP Chacoguy ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/56 "2018-02-02T04:13:45Z")
Any updates on what happened to him? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/57 "2018-02-02T04:20:44Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Any updates on what happened to him? Several posters at GiraffeBoards are [keeping an eye on it.](http://www.giraffeboards.com/showpost.php?p=1418188&postcount=106) Posted by **Anacanapuna** > [@](#): > > City editor at the Herald said one of his reporters called last week for an update and there isn’t one. Typically takes three to four weeks, I’m told. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/58 "2018-02-08T17:35:48Z")
[Link posted](http://www.giraffeboards.com/showpost.php?p=1420234&postcount=108) at GiraffeBoards by **Anacnapuna** [Coroner: Owner of Durango Rafting Co. died from enlarged heart](https://durangoherald.com/articles/207460-coroner-owner-of-durango-rafting-co-died-from-enlarged-heart) > [@](#): > > The owner of a rafting company who was found dead last month died from an enlarged heart with a secondary diagnosis of micronodular cirrhosis of the liver, according to an autopsy report released Tuesday. > > La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith said carbon monoxide poisoning was also examined as a possible cause because a dog that was “very healthy” and “well taken care of” was also found dead at O’Keeffe’s residence in Durango. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345/59 "2018-02-21T04:56:02Z")
Sorry I was way late to the party, but thanks for the information. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chacoguy-has-passed/806345.md?page=2)