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Teenage Hiker Who Left Mountain Note In 1972 Now A San Diego Judge

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE (CBSLA.com) — An innocent note left in a canister in the high Sierra 40 years ago has led a hiker to the person who wrote it – a Superior Court judge now living in San Diego.

Larry Wright, of Oakland, was with his 14-year-old grandson, hiking in the area last month when they stumbled on the canister. The note read:

"Tim Taylor climbed to this peak, Thursday, August 17, 1972. Age 13 yrs. Anyone finding this note please write."

tim taylor note

The note included an address on Padres Trail in La Cañada Flintridge, but the current homeowner wasn't a Taylor. However, Koichi Uyemura knew the name.

"I know the name Tim Taylor because he was one of the owners of the home," Uyemura said. "He lived here."

Tim Taylor was no stranger to the neighbors, though. Across the street, Greg Lee said he went to La Cañada High with Tim, and even played Little League baseball with him.

"The fact that he left a note doesn't surprise me," Lee said. "The fact that somebody's found it 40 years later, yeah, absolutely, that is pretty wild."

Via Skype, Taylor, now a Superior Court living in San Diego with his wife and two adult sons of his own, fondly remembered the day he left the note. He says he had hiked to the area with his Boy Scout troop, and left the note after they had lunch.

tim taylor
Tim Taylor, now a judge in San Diego, left a note behind 40 years ago, asking the finder to write to him. (credit: CBS)

"Maybe I was born with a little sense of history and decided to try and make some," Taylor said. "I wanted to leave evidence that I had been there. And lo and behold, 40 years later, that came to pass."

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