Jakson Kreiser, Disappeared July 28th, 2012, Body found, September 13th, 2012, Glacier National Park, Montana

July 2024

The following case in Glacier National Park is not so strange or mysterious but shows the dangers posed if you go solo hiking in the wilderness. Even experienced, well-prepared outdoors people can succumb to drowning, bears, mountain lions, or fatal falls. Be careful out there!

Jakson Kreiser’s hike in Glacier National Park

Jakson Cole Kreiser, 19, of Hudsonville, left Logan Pass for a day hike in the Glacier National Park on July 28th, 2012. He never returned. His body was found in September 2012.

What is Glacier National Park, and where is it?

Glacier National Park is an American national park located in northwestern Montana, on the Canada–United States border, adjacent to the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.

The park encompasses over 1 million acres (4,000 km2). It includes parts of two mountain ranges (sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains), over 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants, and hundreds of species of animals. The park has almost all its original native plant and animal species, such as grizzly bears, moose, and mountain goats, as well as rare or endangered species like wolverines and Canadian lynxes.

Kreiser’s hike on the Floral Park Traverse

Kreiser was a seasonal employee at Lake McDonald Lodge, and this was his first year working in the National Park.

Kreiser planned to hike the Floral Park Traverse, a trail that begins at Logan Pass and ends at the Sperry Chalet trailhead near Lake McDonald Lodge. 

The Floral Park Traverse in Glacier National Park

The Floral Park Traverse is probably the most well-known traverse in Glacier National Park. The route gains over 4,000 feet of elevation and descends more than 7,000 miles over 19 miles, and it is not for inexperienced hikers.

The search for Jakson Kreiser

The day after Jakson disappeared, a large ground and aerial search was launched between Hidden Lake and Avalanche Lake. The search area was focused on the rugged Floral Park area, which includes a treacherous country filled with rock cliffs, waterfalls, wet and slippery rocks and boulders, and dense vegetation.

The search and rescue operation lasted eight days, but a few clues were found besides boot prints. Park employees were assisted by North Valley Search and Rescue, Flathead Search and Rescue, Can-Am Search and Rescue, the Flathead and Lake County sheriff’s offices and the U.S. Border Patrol. An average of 50 people were involved in the search each day.

Discovery of remains

Jakson Kreiser’s body was eventually found by hikers southwest of Hidden Lake on September 13th, 2012. He was submerged in about 4 inches of water in a small waterfall drainage running between two cliff bands southwest of Hidden Lake. Park rangers and Flathead County Deputy Coroner Dick Sine traveled to the site off-trail in a subalpine talus slope between two cliff bands. The slope has several small waterfall drainages, and he was in one of the waterfall drainages about halfway down the slope. The water would have obscured Kreiser’s body from search parties.

Cause of death

Before the autopsy, officials believed the likely cause of Jakson's death was trauma caused by a fall into the water. Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said the water would have been several feet deep and running fast in July and at a temperature of just above freezing. Curry believed Kreiser slipped while trying to cross the drainage, which was likely 20 feet wide at the time.

The autopsy stated that the cause of death was exposure caused by hypothermia or submerged cold-water drowning. Drowning is the number one cause of death in Glacier National Park, and hikers are encouraged to travel in groups.

Kreiser’s family wrote in his obituary that “Jakson found heaven with an endless view of snow-capped mountains, tumbling waterfalls and cool glacial lakes.”

A very sad story of a solo hike gone wrong in the US wilderness.

See the latest Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com

Read other strange stories from Montana

The strange death of Yi-Jien Hwa in Glacier National Park

The sad death of Bruce Colburn in Glacier National park

The disturbing death of Mike Petersen in Yellowstone National Park

The bizarre disappearance and death of Robert "Bugsy" Springfield in the Bighorn Mountains

The Strange Disappearance and death of Aaron Hedges in the Crazy Mountains (Member only)

The puzzling disappearance of Barbara Bolick from the Bitterroot Mountains

Sources

Thank you to http://traveladventurenotes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/glacier-national-park.html for some of the images from the park.

http://www.dailyinterlake.com/archive/article-3946f23a-feda-11e1-b537-0019bb2963f4.html

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/drowning-or-hypothermia-likely-killed-glacier-hiker/article_a00a8b82-6ce7-11e2-8b61-0019bb2963f4.html

http://missoulian.com/news/local/missing-glacier-hiker-s-body-recovered-southwest-of-hidden-lake/article_5abe10e0-fe14-11e1-821d-0019bb2963f4.html

https://books.google.ch/books?id=ePKeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=jakson+kreiser+death&source=bl&ots=wxF_YH2sil&sig=tJeMINyMkfO1IJamSY2Df1qrnYE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJ8eHc_MDYAhVKaVAKHeolDsMQ6AEIWDAI#v=onepage&q=jakson%20kreiser%20death&f=false

https://hike734.com/trip/floral-park-traverse/