Paul “Bear” Vasquez lived simply. He sheltered on the side of a mountain outside Yosemite National Park, grew his own food and woke up every morning to one of the most magnificent views in California.

The world may never have known him if not for a spectacular double rainbow.

Vasquez, the portly man whose cries of exaltation at a double rainbow turned him into a viral star, died at 57 on Saturday. The Mariposa County Coroner’s Office confirmed his death to CNN.

“Bear” lived in relative solitude for much of his life. But his sincere love of nature – and rainbows in particular – endeared him to millions.