The Disappearance and Death of Timothy Nolan
Timothy Nolan was 36 years old when he went missing in Yosemite National Park. He had planned a solo hike and secured a wilderness permit—though even this detail is muddled. Yosemite National Park’s Facebook page states his permit covered September 1–4, while his family insists his itinerary extended to September 9.
Timothy was 5'4", 130 pounds, with short hair. According to his mother, he had mapped out a full loop: Happy Isles → Little Yosemite Valley → Sunrise Lakes → Tuolumne Meadows → Lyell Canyon → Rafferty Creek → Vogelsang → Merced Lake → Little Yosemite Valley → Happy Isles, returning on September 9.
Timothy last contacted his family on September 1, 2015. When he failed to return home on the 9th, he was reported missing. Yosemite officials launched a search on September 10, deploying dog teams, helicopters, and ground crews through the following days.
On September 15, park visitors discovered Timothy’s body near Quarter Dome.
Many websites frame this as another “mysterious Yosemite disappearance,” but with a bit of investigative work, this case is far more straightforward than most. We know his location of discovery from a Freedom of Information Act request regarding his cause of death (see Additional Info). We also know his intended route because he wisely shared it with his mother.
When you plot his itinerary on a map, it becomes clear he was attempting a loop—and Quarter Dome sits directly along a plausible deviation or misstep from that route.
This one isn’t supernatural or inexplicable. It’s tragic, but it makes sense.
Timothy Nolan Planned Route
Timothy’s wilderness permit allowed him to hike from Box S to Box D. The route he shared with his mother listed the following destinations in order, beginning at the point marked S on the map:
- Happy Isles → Little Yosemite Valley (S)
- Little Yosemite Valley → Sunrise Lakes
- Sunrise Lakes → Tuolumne Meadows
- Tuolumne Meadows → Lyell Canyon
- Lyell Canyon → Rafferty Creek
- Rafferty Creek → Vogelsang
- Vogelsang → Merced Lake
- Merced Lake → Little Yosemite Valley
Using this itinerary, we plotted the direction he was supposed to travel, shown by the arrows on the map. But Timothy’s body was ultimately found at Quarter Dome, marked in black. That location does not appear anywhere in the route he gave his mother.
This tells us something important: Timothy did not follow his planned route.
On September 1st, 2015, he appears to have chosen to hike from Box S directly toward Quarter Dome instead. The most logical explanation is that he wanted to avoid repeating part of the loop—his original plan would have taken him through Little Yosemite Valley twice. By cutting across via Quarter Dome and then reconnecting to Sunrise Lakes (Point 2), he would add a new destination to his trip.
That decision was likely his fatal mistake.
We don’t know what happened on Quarter Dome, and we may never know. But at least we can now understand why he was there. The most probable scenario is that Timothy suffered an accident on the 1st or 2nd of September 2015.
Have we cracked this case? Let us know what you think.