Russell Johnson

Thank You Mark,

and the entire class.

Stay Well,

Russ Johnson

David, Russ and Phil Osborne skiing the really steep chutes at Kicking Horse ski area in western Canada (2007) - with names like Terminator, CPR Ridge, Tunnel Vision, Two-Trick Pony, etc.

David, Russ and Phil Osborne skiing the really steep chutes at Kicking Horse ski area in western Canada (2007) - with names like Terminator, CPR Ridge, Tunnel Vision, etc.

Two of my favorite pictures when we were toddlers.

Dave cornice jumping at Bear Valley in 1972

Agate Bay, Lake Tahoe, 1973 (front to back: Russ, Dave, Karen and Rick)

Diving off our Agate Bay (Tahoe) pier in 1972

Two of my favorite pictures when we were toddlers.

One of my favorite pictures of David and me.  This picture was taken and made into a postcard by a visiting swedish scout who helped on the construction crew at Camp Oljato.  In the postcard he thanks David and me for making that summer in 1976 the best of his life.

Great life stories and comments about David from all of you.  

Jeff Williams, you spent a great deal of time with David and your thoughts and writing are awesome.  I will definitely share your extensive thoughts at Dave's celebration of life on the 10th of May in Shoreline WA.  David's celebration of life is at his house, 2133 NW 204th St, Shoreline WA,  between noon and 4 pm.    All are welcome.

Jeff, it would be great if you could attend; otherwise, I will share your stories along with the picture/text book I created for the event with his family and large number of friends.  Jeff, your stories  are great, and so well written, and definitely representative of David's life, personality and disposition.

Thanks for your thoughts Jeff ( I was hoping you would offer your thoughts, clearly you spent a good deal of time thinking and writing about this.  Thank You.)

Russ Johnson

Thanks for all these wonderful comments.  I loved all the comments. Pamela, it was so Dave to "bring up the rear" when he was dominating everyone on bike ride, and "never taking himself too seriously", so true.

Note: The complete file with pictures is in the obituary link above

Early Years

 Russ, Dave, Karen and Rick in 1974

Mule Trip from Yosemite Floor to the Sierra High Country (circa 1964)

The entire Johnson family traveled all over the Yosemite high country (circa 1964) on an awesome mule trip.  We started at the valley floor of Yosemite and traveled up out of the valley to the high Sierra back country. The itinerary included high-country camps like Vogelsang (over 11,000 ft), Glen Aulin, May Lake, Merced Lake, Tuolumne Meadows and Water Wheel Falls.  Dave often clowned around on the mule, riding side-saddle and the like and fishing at every stop.  Dave always was the best fisherman of our family.

Dave on the Mule Trip in the High Sierra (1964)

European Tour (1978)

In 1978 David and I toured Europe for a month with two other males and 32 Southern Bells. Our European tour originated out of Geogia. At the time we didn’t realize that most young women touring Europe go on organized group tours like this one, whereas young men often travel Europe by themselves.  So, our tour group was composed of roughly an 8:1 female-to-male ratio.  Signing up for this tour was pure luck. Sometimes ignorance plays in your favor.  I thought – there must be a God. We traveled to Germany, Austria, Italy (Rome, Florance, Capri), Spain, France, Netherlands, England with this unforgettable group.  

Brother Rick’s Wedding and Dave’s Version of a Kissing Booth (1976)

Our older brother Rick married in 1976 (Rick is 11 months older than Dave and me.  So, do the math, my mom birthed three boys in just an 11-month period).  Dave was a bit tipsy at the wedding.  Maybe that’s why he kissed, and I mean really kissed – full on 10-second smother kiss, every bridesmaid, the bride, and many other women at the wedding.  I have the pictures to prove it, and his date didn’t seem to mind, and neither did the women.

Sierra Trip, BSA (circa 1968)

We had real adventures with the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 48 out of Palo Alto, during a two-week high Sierra mule trip in ’68 and ’69.  The trips started on the East side of the Sierra near Bridgeport and Mono Lake at Virginia Lakes Pack Station.  We climbed up over Summit Lakes heading to Return Creek deep in Yosemite back country.  We scaled tall granite shale peaks such as Sheep Peak and Matterhorn Peak.  Dave loved to hang out over the precipitous shale cliffs at the summit, which always made a good photo.  Dave always loved fishing in the Mountain streams and caught many trout.  Dave Frykman taught us all how to catch fish without any fishing gear at all.  Just shoot a 30-30 bullet into the creek near the fish and the shock wave will kill them, and they float to the surface.  A real must-know if you’re an early pioneer.

Camp Oljato (circa 1966-69, and 1976) and Lessons in Dynamite

We enjoyed summers at Camp Oljato, BSA.  It’s located in the Sierra, above Fresno, at the 7000 foot level on Lake Huntington.  Troop 48 sent a contingent of scouts to the camp every summer, and my parents often came up also and stayed at Family Camp.  Here we earned merit badges in swimming, nature, lifesaving, canoeing, boating, archery, shooting, hiking, etc.

Camp Oljato, circa 1966

A few years later, one of the scout leaders and a general contractor, Mr. Walter Frykman, whose kids attended Paly, volunteered to build Camp Oljato’s Boat House and Infirmary.  Mr. Frykman hired Dave and myself as essentially unskilled labor to help with these projects

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Camp Oljato Construction Crew

One interesting and unusual assignment went to Dave.   We needed to remove some large granite rocks where the building foundation was supposed to go.  The rock wasn’t big enough to warrant a whole stick of dynamite to blow it apart.  So, Mr. Frykman told Dave to get a hatchet and chop one of the sticks of dynamite in half.  This seemed like a pretty insane idea to us.  Personally, I was glad the assignment went to Dave.  Besides that, if things went poorly I did have three other siblings.  Dave bravely took the hatchet and chopped the stick of dynamite in half – and lived to tell the tale.  The granite rock blocking the foundation was blown to smithereens with the help of a blasting cap (needed to ignite dynamite).  In fact, we were standing a bit too close to the explosion, and quite a few rock fragments came raining down on us.  We completed both the Boat House and Infirmary. I’ve often wondered if those two buildings are still standing.  I haven’t been back, so I don’t know the answer.

Bike Rides to Tahoe (circa 1972-1976)

My parents first met on a bike ride across the country way back in 1947 and they were married in 1950. But I was the first Johnson of my generation to decide that a long-distance bike ride might be fun.  In the Summer of 1971, I began formulating a plan to ride from Palo Alto to the North Shore (Agate Bay) of Lake Tahoe.  Long-distance bike rides were pretty much unheard of in the early 70’s, at least for most people.  I had no idea how difficult this might be.  Remember, this was before helmets, water bottles, and energy bars.  Fortunately, I realized that it might be easier to ride down from Lake Tahoe than to ride up to Lake Tahoe (gravity tends to work that way).  So, I enlisted Andy Berte (also from Paly) to be my riding mate.  However, we discovered that riding back from Tahoe is almost as difficult as riding up to Tahoe.  The 70-mile downhill certainly helps, but once you start to the West across the Central Valley, and particularly when you pass by Mt. Diablo the headwind can be fierce and can last more than 100 miles.  Andy got too tired from the headwind and called his mom to pick him up in Livermore.  I struggled on and completed the ride.

At this point brother Dave really latched onto the idea of long-distance bike rides.  He was a much better bike rider than me.  He eventually did bike rides all over California and the West.   Monster bike rides that covered thousands of miles and took weeks to complete.  His honeymoon (1983) was a several month bike ride all over Europe on his tandem bike with his new bride Suzie (that’s a true marriage test).

Dave did ride with me to Tahoe once, but he was always ahead of me.  I may have drastically slowed his pace, but it was a great experience anyway.

Just before his stage-4 cancer diagnosis Dave rode his gravel bike several hundred miles through Montana with a group of serious riders.  Just weeks before the horrible diagnosis the cancer didn’t seem to slow down his lust for life and adventure. He wasn’t aware he had stage 4 cancer until a few weeks after getting back to Seattle.

Seattle to Portland Bike Rides (2005-2006)

Twice I rode bicycles with Dave and Suzie on the Seattle-to-Portland bike ride.  Several Viggianos joined us and once my son Eric also joined us on this 2-day, 200-mile ride.  Dave always rode his tandem with his wife Suzie.  I always rode a single bike. 

Centennial Trail Ride in Seattle (2015)

On our 60^th birthday I was visiting Dave in Seattle, and someone had the “interesting” idea of riding 30-miles out to a pub on the Centennial Trail and then back 30 miles.  Most days this would have been a terrific idea.  However, there happened to be a huge windstorm that very day, with associated power outages and downed trees.  Unfortunately, we decided to go anyway.  The trail follows an abandoned railroad right-of-way through the woods.  At first, we could hear trees snapping far out in the woods due to the extremely strong winds.  As we approached the pub, at mile 30, we entered a clearing.  There, in the clearing, we really felt the full force of the unimpeded 60-mph gale.  It just felt crazy to be out there on bikes.  We reached the pub to find that the power was out due to the storm.  Still, we managed to pay cash for a cold brew and wondered what would happen on the way back.  We left the pub and found dozens of downed trees over the trail that we literally had to hoist our bikes over.  We also found downed live power lines.  We made it back home and joked that in 10-years, at age 70, perhaps we should do a 70-mile ride in 70-mph winds.   Sadly, we be able to do that again.  As crazy as that ride was, I’d do anything to do it again.

Cabin Cruiser in San Juan Islands , orcas along side the boat, into Canada (circa 1996)

Dave took a few lessons on how to captain a rather large cabin cruiser around Puget Sound and invited my family (Myself, Sue, Eric and Matt) along with his family (Dave, Suzie, Ryan, Nicholas, and Stefano) for a week-long cruise to the San Juan Islands and up into Canada on the Strait of Georgia.  We visited various islands and ports, including Orcas, Lopez, Friday Harbor and Anacortes.  We came quite close to a pod of Orcas on this trip (actually, they just swam up to us to investigate), we clammed, and we even fought what the kids called “jellyfish” wars on cruiser’s small dinghy boats.  Dave managed to captain the relatively large cabin cruiser like an old salt, even when entering ports in high wind. We relaxed, and drank plenty of beer on the deck while sunbathing.  We found that skippering your own boat and calling all the shots on where and when to go really added to the experience.

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Dave and the Cabin Cruiser on San Jaun Islands

Skiing Squaw, KT-22

Dave and I had numerous skiing adventures spanning essentially our entire lives.  It started around 1960 skiing at Badger Pass in Yosemite Park.  We would ride up and down the T-bars at Badger and straight-line the gentle slopes of Badger.  I recall we had to leave Yosemite quickly once in 1962 because three storms were converging on California simultaneously (is that possible?) and getting snowed in was not an option for our CEO father.  We woke up early the next morning to find at least 6” of snow on the lawn at the Bowling Green in Palo Alto.  We charged out the front door, bee-lined to the park and rolled several large snow men – how fun was that?  Significant snow in Palo Alto would not happen again.

Skiing San Carlos de Bariloche Argentina (1972) and the Soon to be Famous Ski Racers

David was on the Squaw Valley Downhill Race Team when we were in high school.  In the Summer of 1972, he went with the team to practice high-speed downhill racing at San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.  I tagged along as a non-team member but did ski with them as a guest.  The coaches and team members were amazing.  The coaches included Jimmy Heuga (the first USA skier to medal in an Olympics), the famous twin Mahre Brothers (Steve and Phil) – gold and silver medalists in Sarajevo (1984).  Tamera McKinney (World Cup Champion and Olympic skier) was there, but just 9 years old.  Steve Mckinney was there (world speed record holder, 121 mph at the time). 

Steve was invited to be a forerunner of the Argentina Nationals while we were there.  Technically Steve won the race, beating the times of all the Argentines.  But it didn’t count because he was just a forerunner.  The Argentines asked Steve to forerun the course because they wanted a great skier to lay down a good line for all the Argentines that would follow.

The Future Who’s Who of 1980’s Skiing Including Jimmy Heuga, the Mahre Brothers, Tamera McKinney and Steve McKinney (World Cup Champions, Olympic Champions and World Speed Record Holders)

Skiing Whistler (1998, 2007, 2023)

The closest destination ski resort to Seattle is Whistler-Blackcomb in Canada.  I skied there at least three times with David (1998, 2007, 2023).  David and his close friend Phil Osborn knew all the terrain at Whistler-Blackcomb, and both were expert skiers.  Put those two factors together and you can be sure we will be skiing every black and double black diamond run in the area.  These include runs with ominous names like Blow Hole, Piccolo Face, Secret Chute, Jersey Cream Wall, Cockalorum, etc.  David excelled at taking you outside your comfort zone – yet living to tell the tale.

Skiing Utah (2004)

Dave accompanied my family to ski Utah on several occasions.  There we skied Park City, Alta, Snowbird and Snowbasin.  Dave continued to keep us well outside our comfort zone with steep slopes and cornice jumping.  At Snowbasin Dave insisted on skiing the Men’s (2002) Olympic downhill run too many times to count.

Skiing Canada (2007, 2018-2019)

David, his close friend Phil Osborn, and I skied a variety of ski resorts in Western Canada over the years.  This started in 2007 at a resort called Kicking Horse

David Ski Jumping Off a Cornice

Jumping off California Trail at Heavenly Valley Circa 1972

Skiing Kicking Horse (2007)

Kicking Horse ski area is famous for its 80 (or so) really steep chutes.  With foreboding names like Terminator, CPR ridge, Last Chance, Two-Trick Pony and Dumpster Chute.  This ski area is not for the faint of heart.  Dave and Phil led the way down most of them.   I have a shot of David standing on top of a chute that looks totally suicidal.  A fall would certainly mean a 2000-foot fast slide all the way to the bottom with probably more than one cartwheel.

CAT skiing at Great Northern (2017,2018)

In January of 2017 and again in 2018 we went CAT skiing at Great Northern near Revelstoke, Canada.  Unfortunately, just before the trip in 2017 David got injured and could not attend so he substituted his son Ryan.  At the lodge the first night we were looking at the back country map and notice a run called “Where’s Dave”, we all thought that was funny and decided to get the back country guides to take us there in solidarity with our injured ski-mate.  It turns out that conditions were not right due to avalanche danger to ski Where’s Dave.  But we did ski around its base.  CAT skiing was no doubt the best powder skiing of my life.  There was fresh snow every morning, and usually bluebird sky in the afternoon.  The powder was deep and the slopes totally untracked and steep.  The terrain varied from open bowl to tree skiing.  We paired up for safety reasons.  There is a risk of falling into tree-wells, your safety partner (wingman sort of) is supposed to dig you out if you get stuck in a tree well.  I discovered that with the powder excitement and adrenaline rush, ski buddies rarely stick together.  Its essentially every man for himself.

The second year (2018) David had healed and joined us at Great Northern CAT skiing.  David was in heaven.  I filmed every run with my GoPro camera.  Dave is seen making perfect powder turns and often doing 360 spins just for the joy of it.

Helicopter Skiing at Panorama Canada (2019)

In 2019 David, Phil Osborn and I traveled again to Canada to ski various ski resorts in the Purcell Mountains and wilderness of Canada.  We skied Panorama ski area and discovered three openings in their helicopter ski operations in the back country near the ski area.  I believe some people had canceled or postponed their reservations since it hadn’t snowed in quite a while.  So, we jumped at the opportunity and boarded the helicopters.  The helicopter would hover or toe-in at the top of long open runs like Judy’s Moraine.   We had a great time on these long open runs.  However, the snow was a bit heavy, and it took quite a bit of work to get down the hill.  Well, that’s the price you pay for getting to heli-ski without a prior reservation (usually you need to sign up a year in advance).  The views of the Purcell Wildnerness of Canada from the helicopter were unforgettable.  Long steep slopes laden with snow avalanche trails were all about us.

Ferni (2019)

After the helicopter skiing we also traveled to Ferni ski area for more epic powder runs in a traditional ski area.  My legs were incredibly sore from the previous days working down the back country slopes made accessible by helicopter.

Skiing Mammoth (2019)

Later in 2019 we met my sister Karen and her husband Jim for a ski fling at Mammoth Mountain on the Eastern slopes for the Sierra in California.  Mammoth is an incredible ski area with over 20 lifts.  Some lifts are quite challenging like Chair 23 to the Summit and the upper Panorama Gondola.  It was so windy near the summit one day that a snowboard was ejected from the Gondola while we were skiing under it.  The snowboard fell several hundred feet straight down from the gondola and nearly hit brother Dave.  Another bullet dodged.

Bow Bay House, Tahoe (1976-2012)

In the summer of 1976, my parents upgraded their Tahoe vacation home from Agate Bay to the Gold Coast of Rubicon Bay at Tahoe.  They purchased a property known at “Bow Bay House” from Elsa Schilling of Schilling Spice fame.  The home was designed by world famous architect Julia Morgan, who is best known as the architect of Hearst Castle.  Dave would visit Bow Bay several times each summer with his family.  We would boat, sail, canoe, water ski, play tennis, hike, or just hang out on the beautiful sandy beach.  My dad and mom, and often family members arrived by seaplane (a De Havilland Beaver) that landed on Tahoe and taxied right to their doorstep.  The flight originated at Palo Alto Airport, soared over all the traffic of San Francisco, Sacramento,  Highway 50, and South Lake Tahoe for an airport-free landing on Tahoe.

Dave Arriving at Bow Bay House on Mr. Brown’s De Havilland Beaver Seaplane

Water Skiing

Most summer mornings involve a water-ski run on Lake Tahoe before breakfast.  Everyone would pile into the Cobalt ski boat, aka the Captain Boat, named by a young grandson of my parents.  Someone would don a wetsuit, climb onto the raft and perform a dock start, and ski around Rubicon Bay, trying hard to impress the “spotters” on the boat, followed by the next skier.

Bike Riding Tahoe    

Dave, Suzie and I rode our bikes around Tahoe and out to Squaw Valley from Bow Bay House many times.  Dave and Suzie always rode their tandem bike and I rode my single bike. We even rode mountain bikes up the Flume Trail with its breath-taking views 2000 feet above Lake Tahoe’s east shore.  Dave and I rode from Bow Bay once up over Luther pass through the Hope Valley, up over Carson Pass on Highway 88 and on to Kirkwood Meadows, and then back to Bow Bay.

David Driving in Snow Storms

It was always interesting to drive with Dave in snowstorms back in the day.  Back before SUVs and snow tires Dave like to forego the chains and just drive on in snow and hope for the best.  I’m pretty sure he never crashed but there was lots of sliding.

Agate Bay, Tahoe (1968-1976)

My parents owned a lake-front home with pier at Agate Bay from 1968-1976.  The pier was two-story and was great fun to dive and jump off.  We had a Gulfstream 210 speed boat that was in near constant use.

Fun at Agate Bay House (1973)

Honda 100 arrest (circa 1970)

My dad purchased two motorcycles prior to our having driver’s licenses, and Kawaski 350 Longhorn dirt bike and a Honda 100 dirt bike.  At that time, you didn’t need a driver’s license to operate a motor vehicle off-road (OHV).  We rode these motorcycles between Agate Bay, Kings Beach, Tahoe City and Truckee OHV.   A favorite destination was Watson Lake at about 8000 ft elevation between Mt. Pluto and Mt. Watson, and what later became the Northstar Ski Area. The main route up the mountain was known as the “Fiberboard Freeway”, which at that time was not paved.

“Fiberboard Freeway” to Lake Watson, and Tahoe City Through the Forest

Fun with the Land Cruiser

Water Skiing at Agate Bay

The Land Cruiser on “Cadillac Hill”

My Dad Dick Johnson on the Kawasaki 350 Longhorn Dirt Bike

We had to access the backroads on our motorcycles through city streets. Although a license was not required in the backwoods (1971), a license was required on the city streets used to get to the woods.  David found this out the hard way in 1971 when a cop spotted him on city streets with the Honda 100.  Like a true renegade David decided he could outrun a powerful police car on a wimpy Honda 100 motorcycle.  He was unlicensed, on an unregistered motorcycle and underage. The plan to outrun might have worked if he got to the woods, and the rough and narrow dirt roads, before they caught him.  Alas, they did catch him.  He had to go to court and received a 1-year delay in receiving his driver’s license.  Bottom Line:  he should have taken the Kawaski 350 out that day, it was much faster and more agile and almost certainly would have beaten the cops to the woods.

Stuck snowmobiles (circa 1972)

At both Bow Bay House and the Agate Bay house there were many snowmobiles and associated stories.  A memorable occasion was when someone drove a snowmobile into a river with very steep snowbanks on both sides.  The picture below shows Dave’s very difficult task of digging the machine out and getting it up to the top of the snowbank while emersed in the creek – the women are just watching poor David do this chilling work.

Snowmobile Stuck in the Creek

Dave’s wedding (1983)

Dave and Suzie had a beautiful wedding at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Palo Alto in 1983.  The reception was at my parents’ house at 1336 Cowper Street in Palo Alto.  I have 103 photos of this joyous event.

Diving Off Agate Bay Pier (1968-1975)

Swimming from our dock at Agate Bay over to the Agate Bay Swim Club pier was a favorite activity.  The Agate Bay Swim Club pier was a double decker, with additional high pylons on the four corners.  This made it an adrenaline rush when diving or jumping off the pier. 

Diving Off the Pier at Agate Bay

Rafting the Truckee River (circa 1969)

Once, Dave, Rick and Russ rafted the Truckee River on inner tubes all the way from Tahoe City, past River Ranch, and terminated at Truckee.  This was long before there were rafting companies on the Truckee River and before they make you get out at River Ranch.  The river becomes significantly faster and rockier past River Ranch.  The inner tubes sank in the water and your rear gets cold.  I still have a scar or two on my rear from rock strikes in those low riding, flimsy inner tubes.

Rafting the Truckee River Past River Ranch on our Way to Truckee

Houseboat trips on Lake Shasta and Trinity (circa 2002 and 2014)

Ever since college we’ve been renting houseboats, speed boats and personal watercraft (PWC) on the Sierra foothill reservoirs and in the Cascades: Lake Shasta, Don Pedro, Camanche, Oroville, Sacramento Delta, and Trinity Lake.  Dave came along on several occasions and showed how water skiing is really done. He was also an awesome barbeque chef.   Often he brought his high-power potato gun, which was always entertaining.

Roofing my house, roofing the Big Garage at Bow Bay (circa 1978)

David started a successful roofing company in Seattle.  He and his son Nicholas even came down to Half Moon Bay in 2012 and installed a new roof on my house in Half Moon Bay.

Dave’s Three-Story Fall

To give a sense of how tough and resilient David was, consider this: Dave fell off a three-story roof in the late 1980’s while on a job.  We figured he’d probably be in a wheelchair the rest of his days.  It turned out he broke both hips and was knocked out.  But his doctor’s set his hips and had him lie in a hospital bed essentially motionless for 6 weeks.  By three months he seemed normal to me, we even went out skiing.  Nearly every trace of a fall that would kill most of us was just gone after three months.

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