"I just happened to check in right as they posted that they had reached the summit," Hanson said. "It was really cool to listen to the (satellite) phone and hear them say, 'And we're doing this in honor of James Cawley.' It was really touching. It was really a tender moment to think that thousands of miles away on top of mountain there were fellow police officers honoring my brother."

Salt Lake police assistant chief Carroll Mays also tracked the expedition, providing regular progress reports to others at the police department. The response was a confusing mix of interest and bewilderment at what is a most unusual take on a memorial.

"We memorialize people in a lot of ways, but usually it's a prayer service or something like that," said Mays. "These are people who are willing to climb some of the highest mountains in the memory of someone. The amount of energy and effort and time that takes far exceeds anything I've ever seen before. "

Mays understands firsthand the emotional impact of making such an expedition. He was among a group of eight Utahns who climbed King's Peak on Sept. 11, 2002, in conjunction with Cops on Top. Weather kept all but three from the team from reaching the summit, Mays said.

"I thought it was a fitting memorial for those folks," said Mays, who is working on plans for a September 2004 return to the peak.

For Cops on Top to honor Cawley also seemed fitting, he added.

Twin plaques marking the Anaconda expedition, along with rocks from the top of Aconcagua and rocks the police department carried to the top and back, now hang in the police department's lobby and in the Cawleys' home.

"When you lose someone you love, you want to shout to the world, 'Do you know what we've just lost?' and you never want people to forget," Hanson said. "In a lot of ways, we have been lucky because people haven't forgotten."

More information about Cops on Top and their expeditions is available on the Web at www.copsontop.com.

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E-mail: jdobner@desnews.com