In the summer of 2012, Garrett Beckwith and his 19-year-old daughter Della set out for what should have been another thrilling adventure in the wilderness. For years, father and daughter had been inseparable climbing partners, bound by their shared love of hiking, camping, and testing themselves against the raw challenges of nature.
Their destination was Mount Hooker in Wyoming’s Wind River Range—a colossal granite wall that has both awed and terrified climbers for generations. For Garrett, the trip was about strengthening the unique bond between parent and child. For Della, it was a chance to push herself to new heights with the man who had first tied a rope around her waist and taught her how to scale rock. Together, they had conquered smaller peaks and countless trails. But Mount Hooker was different. It was bigger, wilder, and far less forgiving.
Neither of them could have known that this journey would be their last.
The Mountain
Mount Hooker rises nearly 12,500 feet, its north face famous for being one of the most difficult big-wall ascents in the continental United States. The climb requires stamina, precision, and absolute respect for the mountain’s dangers. Even reaching its base involves days of trekking through remote backcountry, far from cell service, roads, or rescue stations. Climbers who take on Mount Hooker accept that the margin for error is slim and that the wilderness here plays by its own rules.
The weather shifts without warning. Rockfalls echo across valleys. Crevasses and cliffs hide secrets that even seasoned rescuers may never uncover. To attempt Hooker is to step into one of the last truly wild frontiers of the Rockies.
Vanishing Without a Trace
Garrett and Della were last seen setting off with their gear, their sights set on the daunting north face. When they failed to return by their scheduled date, worry quickly spread among family and friends. Calls to their phones went unanswered. Days turned into weeks as hope gave way to dread.
Search-and-rescue teams mobilized, deploying helicopters, dogs, and ground crews. For days they scoured the approach trails, camp areas, and ledges of the mountain. They searched for discarded gear, frayed rope, or any trace of father and daughter. But the wilderness gave up nothing. No clothing, no equipment, no bodies. It was as though the mountain itself had swallowed them whole.
Theories and Questions
In the absence of evidence, theories began to circulate. Some climbers suggested they may have fallen during their ascent, their remains hidden deep in crevasses or buried by rockslides. Others speculated that a sudden storm may have forced them off route, leaving them stranded in terrain too treacherous to cross.
The sheer remoteness of Mount Hooker made every possibility both plausible and impossible to prove. Without tangible evidence, the truth remained out of reach, and for the Beckwith family, the silence was its own torment.
The Legacy of Loss
For those left behind, the pain was not only in losing Garrett and Della, but in the lack of closure. To grieve a death is hard enough; to grieve a disappearance is to live in a constant state of unanswered questions. Did they suffer? Did they make it close to the summit? Did they find peace in their final moments? These questions lingered like shadows, impossible to dispel.
Yet those who knew them chose to remember not just how they vanished, but how they lived. Garrett was remembered as a devoted father, a man who found joy in the outdoors and passed that love to his daughter. Della was remembered as adventurous and determined, a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. Together, they embodied the spirit of adventure that draws so many to the mountains.
A Mountain That Remembers
More than a decade later, the disappearance of Garrett and Della Beckwith remains one of Wyoming’s most enduring mysteries. Climbers who pass through the Wind River Range often pause at the sight of Mount Hooker, reflecting on its beauty and its dangers. For many, the story of the Beckwiths is a cautionary tale about the power of nature and the risks of chasing its heights.
But for their family, it is more personal. Each year that passes is a reminder of lives cut short, of moments never lived, of questions never answered. The mountain still stands, unyielding and silent, holding its secrets close.
In every rope tossed over a ledge, every climber who faces Hooker’s granite wall, Garrett and Della’s memory endures. Their story is not only one of disappearance, but also of love, courage, and the unbreakable bond between a father and daughter who dared to climb into the unknown—together.
