Ed Wolcott said:
I am going to add this summary of our trip up Kit Carson, because I think Bob's children might enjoy hearing about it. Kit Carson Climb Summary In late August 1971, John Devitt, Bob Stuemky and I left Gates in the afternoon to climb Kit Carson Peak. We decided to try it by the Willow lakes trail, which you access from Crestone, CO. We drove to the Lakes trail road from Gates and got up to where the actual trail started and camped there. We also added 2 more people to our team, Raoul Bates and Al Kudalis, who came in later that night–they were friends of Bob who had climbed with him. The next day, we rose early and started up. About noon we reached Willow lake, which was spectacular, with a pretty waterfall at the far end. We then went up a big ridge of Kit Carson to the south of the Willow Lake and crested the ridge, which was 13,800 feet or so, at 2 PM. (You get a superb view of the sand dunes to the south from the ridge). We proceeded east to Kit Carson peak along the ridge. As we approached the summit, which was a big semi cube shaped block looming in front of us, 2 ways to the summit became apparent. The ridge we were on led to a knife edge ridge that seemed to go to the summit, but to the south, there was a fault in the block that left a pathway that looked like a good route to the summit. Al and I, who were the conservative climbers opted for the fault route, the others took the ridge. We rounded the summit block and came to a gully which was a nice easy way to the summit. We started up this and got halfway up when we ran into Bob, Raoul and John running down. They hollered that a bad electrical storm was coming in and we had be get down. (The ascent route Al and I took blocked our view of storms coming in from the west). We hunkered down in the gully and endured a bad hailstorm with lightning that was way too close for comfort. John commented the ascent by the ridge was one of the most fearsome climbs he had made, being on a knife edge ridge with buzzing from the storm going on was not something he ever wanted to do again. Once the storm was over, Al and I went to the summit, and signed the register. We were accompanied by John and Raoul, and then we started down. Bob, who was getting cold, and who was a fast hiker and climber, started down the gully. We came down, probably 15 minutes after him. When we got to the ridge we had ascended by, we could not see Bob, but we felt since he was fast, he probably had traversed it already and was starting down to Willow lake. We proceeded down the way we came, finally getting back to our campground at 8 or so, after a long, hard day. By then, we realized Bob was lost. We decided to organize a search party, and we left a note telling Bob what we had done, and headed to Crestone. Raoul and Al, who had urgent matters to attend to, left us and headed back to Denver. We called up the county sheriff, and then ran into some members of an Outward Adventures team, and we started to look at setting up a search. The sheriff (a Mr. Garcia) just showed up, and we were starting to get ready when Bob came running in. He had descended 500 feet or so down the wrong ridge, (there was another ridge going out from Kit Carson south of the one we used) and by the time he realized his mistake, he realized he was probably too late to catch us. So, he descended until darkness caught him, and then he spent a cold night under a fallen tree trunk. As soon as it was light he started down, he found a mine road/trail that headed to the Willow Lake road. He practically ran down this, came to the campsite, read our note and ran down to Crestone to catch us. Fortunately, he caught us before any real search was underway. He had to calm down a very irritated Sheriff Garcia (we got him out of bed early on Sunday), but that was the main damage. It was the most memorable climb I had in Colorado. Bob did a superb job of getting himself out of a bad predicament, but I am sure he never forgot it.

Ed Wolcott said:
I worked with Bob at Gates Rubber from 1967 until 1974, when I left Gates. He was a very capable, original engineer with a lot of excellent ideas. I also climbed several peaks with him, the most memorable being Kit Carson. Bob got to the summit first, and then started down ahead of the group when we started down after being caught in a lightning storm at the summit. Unfortunately, he took a wrong turn going down and ended up several miles from our campsite, but fortunately, he caught up with us before we organized a search party the next day. He was an honorable, delightful person to be with and I will certainly miss him.

John Wright said:
I heard with sadness that my valued neighbor 'Bob' Stuemky had passed away with a couple weeks of me traveling to Colorado to see him and Maria. Bob was the best person you can imagine having as a neighbor. He was a truthful, caring, interesting, a gracious host and genuine person. I tried to visit Colorado from my home on the east coast at least once a year and call him in between to hear his stories and get the news of Cedarwood Colorado where our properties were located. in this photo from May of 2000 bob was telling me of his plans to build a house on the escarpment (located actually more behind him than the direction he is pointing). I remember Bob being a very devout and observant man (he sang in the choir (but I don't think I ever heard him sing), he loved nature and the outdoors, he loved his family and his dog walking/running companions, he appreciated a simple fix that worked over a fancy fix and was appreciative of kindnesses shown him. I loved having him as a neighbor, given his love of nature my property was very convenient to roam around on so I was comforted in knowing someone was looking out for it when I couldn't. I am going to miss talking to him as he was full of knowledge (both book smarts and life smarts) and could provide content and the perspective of history. I plan to say a final goodbye when in Colorado about a week from now. Given it being almost Easter for my family, I remember Bob always saying jubilantly He is Alive when I would call him this time of year.