DRAPER — Trent and Alexis Pabst died tragically doing what they loved most.
The soulmates and outdoor enthusiasts were killed by a lightning strike Thursday night on Lone Peak, Salt Lake County's highest mountain, as they were climbing near the 11,300-foot summit.
"To die doing what you love . . . ," Alexis' father, Markay Johnson, said, his voice trailing off as he choked back tears this morning. "They'll never grow old, they'll never be sick, they'll be together forever."
Other family members gathered at a command post at the base of the mountain this morning to hug, shed tears and console each other as search and rescue crews removed the couple's bodies from the peak.
Johnson described the couple as "inseparable," adding that family members take some comfort in the fact that their lives ended together.
"They would be so alive and full of life. They would be like that all the time," Johnson said.
They met at Brigham Young University and formed an immediate bond based on their mutual love of the outdoors and interest in engineering. Trent, 28, and Alexis, 23, married 14 months ago and worked at the same company, L3 Communications.
Johnson said his son-in-law went climbing every weekend and had probably scaled most peaks in Utah. Alexis' love of the outdoors prompted her family to take up hiking. That enthusiasm inspired her stepmother, Ashley Johnson, with a love of life and the outdoors.
"Alexis was a mentor to me," she said.
The couple was hiking with Trent's younger brother, Taylor Pabst, Thursday night above the tree line on Lone Peak when a storm rolled in about 7:30 p.m. Steep drop-offs on either side made it difficult to maneuver quickly back down the mountain, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Robert Sampson said.
The group was trying to find cover under a nearby rock when Taylor Pabst saw the lightning bolt strike his brother and sister-in-law, who were just 10 feet away. The jolt also knocked Taylor Pabst off his feet.
"He's very emotional, very concerned. A little bit in shock," Sampson said.
Police say the couple was killed instantly by the strike, but Taylor Pabst called to them, hoping they were still alive.
"They weren't responsive to him," Sampson said.
Taylor left the couple and began a 4 1/2-hour hike by himself in the dark to the bottom of the mountain, where he called for help from a gas station about midnight, Sampson said.
After three air searches, a medical helicopter located the couple about 3:30 a.m., 2 1/2 hours after crews began looking for them.
The helicopter crew was "able to pinpoint where they were and stayed on the scene for quite a while. They were unresponsive," Sampson said.
Search and rescue crews finally reached the couple by 6:50 a.m. today and spent the rest of the morning trying to move their bodies back down the mountain where a medical examiner was waiting.
By about 10 a.m., 10 search and rescue workers were in the process of moving the bodies about 200 yards across the rocky landscape to the waiting helicopter.
Authorities also located a second trio of climbers this morning at their camp about one mile below the summit. That group had planned to join the Pabsts in their hike but never met them Thursday. The three climbers planned to retrieve the couple's dog from their base camp, located in a meadow below the summit.
The Pabsts had been camping there since Wednesday. Johnson said the couple's dog was still at the camp waiting for their return this morning. Authorities said the group was well-equipped with hiking and climbing gear.
Ironically, the trio had postponed their trip one day because of lightning in the area on Tuesday, Johnson said. They were supposed to return home tonight or Saturday morning.
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