AT Backpacker doesn't survive

[spencer rifle]

I find this most unusual. All the AT hikers I met on the trail were pretty well prepared, though we did share food with a few who couldn't replenish due to the gov shutdown a few years ago. The summer woods in Maine are full of things to eat, and no one that knows Maine will hike without warm stuff to wear and sleep in. Hike downhill anywhere and you are likely to find a river and road, or a river that leads to a road. It seems she depended too much on her cell phone to save her, and didn't attempt any self-rescue by trying to hike out. A compass was not mentioned as being found with her. I am interested to see what else those journals reveal.

Missing hiker kept journal of deadly ordeal: 'When you find my body, please call my husband' - Chicago Tribune

 

[snorko]

I would very much like to hear the details on this. She sounds like she was an experienced hiker so there must have been some contributing circumstances to her getting lost. And to have survived for 26 days is weird. You have to think she had some decent amount of food with her so it must have been the lack of water.

Somewhat related, I have a hard time watching movies like "Wild" and "Into the Wild" which are full of people making really bad decisions.

 

[SheepDog4Life]

She was not prepared, neither with equipment, nor mindset/training, and should not have proceeded solo when her trail companion was called away for a family emergency.

The article indicates that she only had a paper "trail" map, an none of the items needed to recover from getting a "little" lost off the trail in the middle of wilderness: compass, topo map, high vis surveyor's tape and rescue whistle.

Worst case, had she setup camp when she first found herself lost, she would have been found shortly after being reported missing by her husband two days later, likely only a few hundred yards from the trail. With hi-viz tape and a compass, she could easily have searched out from this base camp to find the trail, or whistling, make contact with other hikers. Instead she wandered 3-4 miles into the wilderness the first day.

Bottom line, she was not prepared (equipment nor training) to be out there solo.

 

[SheepDog4Life]

I would very much like to hear the details on this. She sounds like she was an experienced hiker so there must have been some contributing circumstances to her getting lost. And to have survived for 26 days is weird. You have to think she had some decent amount of food with her so it must have been the lack of water.

Somewhat related, I have a hard time watching movies like "Wild" and "Into the Wild" which are full of people making really bad decisions.

The saying is that you can survive 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food, so she found water somewhere along the way, but not food.

On a sidenote, Bear Grylls "The Island" is a fascinating show to watch. The original 3 seasons are from BBC. They maroon a dozen or so non-survivalists on a island with just one day of water, and a few basic tools, and unless summoned by emergency sat-phone or flare, leave them there for 30 days to survive on their own. Finding a water source and starting a fire with a string bow or other method, to boil the water, are priority #1.

 

[MCgrease08]

She was not prepared, neither with equipment, nor mindset/training, and should not have proceeded solo when her trail companion was called away for a family emergency.

The article indicates that she only had a paper "trail" map, an none of the items needed to recover from getting a "little" lost off the trail in the middle of wilderness: compass, topo map, high vis surveyor's tape and rescue whistle.

Worst case, had she setup camp when she first found herself lost, she would have been found shortly after being reported missing by her husband two days later, likely only a few hundred yards from the trail. With hi-viz tape and a compass, she could easily have searched out from this base camp to find the trail, or whistling, make contact with other hikers. Instead she wandered 3-4 miles into the wilderness the first day.

Bottom line, she was not prepared (equipment nor training) to be out there solo.

Bingo. Excellent post.

Even 3 or 4 miles off the trail, a good whistle would have likely been audible by other hikers.

It's critical to stop and assess the situation once you first realize you're lost. The worst thing you can do is go headstrong into the woods in a state of panic.

To make it 26 days she most definitely had a water source. I wonder if she had any way to catch, trap or gather food in that time. She must have been a pretty tough broad to make it that long if not.

 

[joseywales7450]

I'm not familiar with Maine but I feel like you could travel at minimum, 5 miles a day for 5 days in one direction and come across some form of civilization.

I think another poster was right too, she'd thought that someone would come to her rescue and just stayed out and it may have gotten to the point where by the time she realized she wasn't going to get rescued, she didn't have the energy or motivation to hike out somewhere.

Pretty sad story. Good lesson learned about leaving the trail for whatever reason. Travel in one direction off the trail and mark the trail with tape where you left it if there is any chance you think you could lose it.

 

[SheepDog4Life]

It's critical to stop and assess the situation once you first realize you're lost. The worst thing you can do is go headstrong into the woods in a state of panic.

Exactly. If she went the full 200 ft off trail to use the restroom, even if she got 180 turned around, she was no more than 5-600 ft away when she realized she was lost. At that point, it was probably the "least lost" she would be prior to blindly trudging along. In fact, her remains were found "in a wooded area about 3,000 yards off the trail, two or three miles from where she was last seen in July 2013, authorities said."

Just sad and unnecessary.

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/10/...-exposure-on-appalachian-trail-autopsy-finds/

 

[Leadeye]

Sad story, I've met people though that get lost easily.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

I hate to say it, but how flippin' far do you have to go off a trail to answer a call of nature? It's not like the AT is I-465 at rush hour. Hate to be callous about it, but a clear case of Evolution in Action.

We were assisting with a SAR operation in the Cascade mountains in 1977 (IIRC) and one of our helos found a tent down in a gully, just off a trail. Wasn't the lost person we were searching for, but the remains of a couple hikers who'd gotten caught in a sudden snowstorm and apparently suffocated when snow covered up their tent. They'd been missing for two years and, again, apparently, hadn't been found because the snow in that gully hadn't melted in all that time.

 

[cobber]

She was 66 years old? Maybe some other factors played a role in the series of errors that led to her demise.

Some days I can't find my keys. A little momentary confusion, and it's all downhill from there.

 

[sheltowee]

I hope when I'm 66 I'm able to hike the Appalachian Trail. I'm just going to make sure I have a compass in my pack.

It's easy to criticize her, but we weren't there and don't know her mindset. We don't really know the specifics. There may have been an injury that prevented her from moving. It would be interesting (and a little macabre) to read her journal.

I would like to think I would make it out in a similar situation, but you never know.

 

[indiucky]

[video=youtube;iMuWJ3VuziE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMuWJ3VuziE[/video]

 

[BugI02]

She was 66 years old? Maybe some other factors played a role in the series of errors that led to her demise.

Some days I can't find my keys. A little momentary confusion, and it's all downhill from there.

Exactly. I read several variations of this story and in one her hiking partner said she had a bad sense of direction and was easily confused. She told the story of getting somewhat ahead of her, due to the older woman's slow hiking speed, and waiting at a point on the trail for her to catch up with no joy. She had to retrace her steps to find this woman hiking the wrong way on the AT

I just don't get the hiking with minimal/no equipment but I know they pull them out of the wilderness all the time. I do a lot of hiking out west where water is the biggest concern and a stunning number of people die within five miles of their car. They pull off the road in some attractive area and hike into the wilderness with nothing but a camera. When they get lost it often ends badly

 

[SheepDog4Life]

I hate to say it, but how flippin' far do you have to go off a trail to answer a call of nature? It's not like the AT is I-465 at rush hour.

You are supposed to go a minimum of 200 feet from the trail, water or campsite unless you are packing the waste out with you. And, it's not for privacy/modesty, even urine will attract critters for the salts.

 

[Thor]

If she was that easily confused and direction challenged the decision to go it alone was sheer idiocy. It was the final fatal decision that took days to be fulfilled.

 

[PistolBob]

Why didn't she just light a big fire and wait.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

Why didn't she just light a big fire and wait.

Presumably for the same reason she went at least 200 feet off the trail to pee; "you're not supposed to have an open fire in the woods; you might start a forest fire."

As Clint Eastwood said in one of his movies: "(a man's) got to know his limitations." Too many of us don't.

 

[KittySlayer]

The saying is that you can survive 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food...

The missing Rule of 3's... You can't survive 3 seconds without thinking. It only takes one stupid decision to die.

 

[actaeon277]

Why didn't she just light a big fire and wait.

According to this, she tried.
Also, that at first, staying put is good advice. But that may change after so much time.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hikers-tough-call-to-wait-for-help-on-trail-was-right-at-first/

 

[SheepDog4Life]

According to this, she tried.
Also, that at first, staying put is good advice. But that may change after so much time.
Lost hiker's decision to wait for help on trail was right -- at first - CBS News

Actaeon, that is an interesting article in that it states that she did have a compass, maps and a whistle.

But, it mis-states the biggest point, that she did not stay put when she first found herself lost. She went a few hundred feet off-trail, got lost returning the few hundred feet, but then went 3-4 miles trying to find the trail before stopping and setting up a base camp.

And, then when she did, she setup in a dense area that made her invisible unless someone walked directly up on her camp, rather than finding an opening, or at least more open and visible spot. This is where the article's advice to move on after a week or so would be apt.

Also, it states that she "attempted" to build a fire. I read into that statement that she was unsuccessful, though she had several lighters. This is a basic and necessary bushcraft skill that again could have saved her life even after she was far off-trail.

Finally, since she had a compass, this implies that she did not shoot a compass bearing or a landmark when leaving the trail, the first of many mistakes.

Edit: I'm not trying to criticize the woman for her ignorance of what to do, but rather the many, many mistakes that led to her demise.