SALT LAKE CITY — Ian Stasko's sister has plenty of memories to remember her brother by.
"Like the river we'd go fishing at every time, he'd ring up rope swings, like from countless trees. Within the two miles we live in, [he would] find snowy hills to go sledding on. It was like everything was truly an adventure with him," shared Dylan Stasko.
Stasko lived in Salt Lake City and loved the outdoors and was curious, kind, and loved exploring.
"He was always looking," added Dylan. "Like for the best in people and the next thing to do."
A little over two weeks ago, Ian and his best friend, Andrew Porter, set out on an elk hunting trip in Colorado, in the Trujillo Meadows Reservoir area, close to the New Mexico border. His family said the duo planned well and had all the right gear, and even a communication plan with Andrew's fiancée.
"If there was no ping in 24 hours, they were going to start a search party, essentially," Dylan explained.
That's exactly what happened two weeks ago when Dylan and her mother, Michelle, traveled to Colorado to help search after no one had heard from either Ian or Andrew.
"It was terrifying. But I wasn't prepared when I drove up and saw the [police] tape and all the cars. I kind of lost it there. It definitely felt more real," said Ian and Dylan's mother, Michelle Sirch.
A few days later, Ian's family received the worst possible news.
"It was kind of clear as soon as we got up there that he had not made it," Sirch explained.
Crews found the duo's car at the Rio De Los Pinos trailhead, and their bodies about two miles from there. Earlier this week, a coroner determined their cause of death as a lightning strike.
"I think a relief and also a frustration," said Dylan of learning of her brother's death. "A bit... just kind of like... why it had to happen... a lot of relief that there's nothing that we or they could have done differently."
Weather in the backcountry can change quickly and is always a danger.
"Typically, what we see in the summertime, on those thunderstorm days, we'll see those white, bubbly clouds build up over the mountains that kind of look like cauliflower. That's the first sign that the atmosphere might be favorable to thunderstorms on a particular day," explained National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Desmet. "And if you see those clouds turning darker, that's a good sign that conditions are favorable for thunderstorms, and certainly when you hear that thunder, then it's time to take action and get to a safe place."
Utah State Parks officials recommend making sure you have a plan in place if things get dangerous in the wilderness.
"Along your route, know the spots, have them marked off on your map, of hey, this is the closest high ground, this is the closest cover, this is the most exposed area, I want to make sure I get through that spot as quickly as possible," shared Utah State Parks deputy director Devan Chavez.
For Dylan, it was almost a poetic end to Ian's extraordinary life.
"I can't imagine a better way to go out," she said. "That they were with each other, doing what they loved in an absolutely beautiful place."
