Boeing engineer falls to death on hike

Ruben Dario Maldonado set out early Saturday for the Cascade foothills, carrying with him his hiking gear and the same unbridled energy he'd exuded throughout his short life.

Never mind that the 28-year-old Boeing engineer had just returned home to Snohomish County from a Hawaiian adventure with five of his best friends.

With Maldonado leading the way, the group had snorkeled, hiked, club-hopped and danced away their nights in Honolulu, relishing the camaraderie.

"The day that this happened, we had just come back from Hawaii," said friend and co-worker Juan Paniagua. "But he was like, 'Let's go hiking at 8 in the morning.' That was Ruben. Even when the rest of us were tired, he always had the energy to go out and do something."

For Maldonado, Saturday's hike would be his last adventure.

On a sun-soaked morning, Maldonado and a female companion set out on Rattlesnake Ledge Trail, a steep two-mile ascent that switchbacks up Rattlesnake Mountain near North Bend.

After more than an hour of hiking, the pair neared the summit. They stopped at a craggy vista along the trail for a quick photograph, friends say.

With his hiking companion looking on, Maldonado sought to pose for a photograph on a scenic ledge beneath a rock face. He lost his footing suddenly and plunged some 400 feet to his death.

A King County search-and-rescue team found his body after a search that closed the popular hiking trail for several hours. Authorities have since ruled Maldonado's death accidental.

Friends and family members are devastated.

"He was such an outgoing person," said Diego Bernal, a college classmate, friend and co-worker who sat next to Maldonado at work. "He was always smiling, bringing people together."

An Ecuadorean native who worked his way through a Manhattan-based engineering school, Maldonado landed a job at Boeing in 2005 and later moved his mother and younger brother from Queens to the Northwest.

Eliz Pico, a college friend, described him as a charismatic leader among his classmates.

While at City College New York in Manhattan, Maldonado served as vice president of LAESA-SHPE — a Hispanic engineering student organization, she said.

"He used to mentor the younger students," Pico said. "And his smile was contagious."

Maldonado's paternal nature was innate, friends say. Estranged from his own father, friends say Maldonado took on the father's role in his family, caring for his mother and younger brother, Rashko, 14.

Pico said she spoke with Maldonado's brother shortly after the accident.

"He's devastated," Pico said. "He told me that he and Ruben had a lot of plans together."

Maldonado was known as someone eager to try new things, friends say. He'd go river rafting on a moment's notice, or salsa dance until dawn. And, since arriving in the Northwest, he spent many weekends hiking.

Recent pictures posted on Maldonado's Facebook page captured him posing while standing on slick rock slabs beneath waterfalls and at the edge of an icy lake during recent hikes.

"Outdoors, indoors, it didn't matter to Ruben," Paniagua said. "It was always a party for him. He was very well-liked, a good-looking guy easy to approach the ladies. And the ladies liked him, too."

Locally, friends and family will host a viewing for Maldonado at an Everett funeral home this evening. Meanwhile, those touched by Maldonado's life some 3,000 miles away will pay tribute during a memorial ceremony set for today at his alma mater in New York.

Lewis Kamb: 206-464-2341 or lkamb@seattletimes.com