PHOTOS: Guam's hiking community, along with friends and family, are mourning the death of Reed Topasna, who died Saturday evening after a 35-foot fall into a hole during a hike in the Mount Taene area in Sånta Rita-Sumai.
Topasna, an avid hiker for the past 30 years, was in the Mount Taene area celebrating his “birthday hike,” according to his cousin and fellow hiker Ryan San Nicolas.
“Yesterday was his birthday, too, from what I know. He passed away and that was like a birthday hike for him,” San Nicolas said. “From the details that I know, he fell into a hole that was 35 feet in depth.”
“It’s just sad, all the circumstances, how it happened, and it happened on his birthday. ... When I got off the phone with his ex-wife, ... I didn’t know the scope and the magnitude of the situation, the 35-foot hole. I was like, 'Reed will get out.' An hour later, I found out he passed,” San Nicolas said