Father and son who died in Central California hiking accidents loved to explore

SHAVER LAKE - A man who plunged to his death along with his son while the two were hiking in Central California's Shaver Lake was identified Tuesday as an archaeologist who loved to explore and go on adventures with his son.

Todd Byers' body was recovered late Monday, Fresno County Sheriff's spokesman Tony Botti said.

Byers, 49, and his 14-year-old son, Brayden, were walking Saturday along a hiking trail in an area known as Shaver Rock, on the west side of the lake, when they fell off an embankment and died. Deputies and firefighters responded to the area, along with a sheriff's helicopter, but the pair had fallen into a deep canyon and rescue crews were unable to reach them. Both bodies were recovered Monday.

Todd Byers of Clovis was an archaeologist who worked in the state Department of Transportation and loved to explore. His son Brayden was a ninth-grade student at Clovis High School who was always happy to join his father on an adventure, the Fresno Bee reported.

The father and son were in the mountains, near Shaver Lake, doing what "our dad loved best - they were hiking around and looking for treasures," according to a GoFundMe account for the family.

But the hike ended in tragedy when the pair, who were at Shaver Rock on the west side of the lake, fell about 400 feet off an embankment into a deep canyon to their deaths, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office said. The GoFundMe page said the pair wandered off the trail. The sheriff's office has no other details about what happened.

The Department of Transportation said Todd was passionate about his work and was a committed employee with a great sense of humor, providing his co-workers with many laughs over the years.