Posted on 12/24/2016 10:52:28 PM PST by nickcarraway
A woman who has been missing since Thursday near the Grand Canyon was found alive early Saturday morning, according to the Coconino County Sheriff's Office.
Searchers found 47-year-old Karen Klein shortly after midnight at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Klein had walked approximately 26 miles since Thursday afternoon in search of help after getting stranded with her husband and son in a rental car.
The car got stuck on a forest service road.
Searchers said Klein was conscious, communicating and suffering from the cold weather.
She was treated on scene by rescuers and transported to Kane County Hospital in Kanab, Utah.
She is expected to be transferred to the hospital in St. George, Utah for further treatment.
Searchers on snowmobiles tracked remnants of Klein's tracks to a guard shack at a gate to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon that was closed for the winter.
On Friday afternoon, Klein's husband, Eric, and 10-year-old son had been able to hike to an area where they had cell service to call for help. Both received treatment for cold exposure, including frostbite.
The family is from Pennsylvania.
They rented a car in Las Vegas and drove to visit southern Utah.
They were following their GPS system in an attempt to visit the Grand Canyon.
However, State Route 67 to the North Rim is closed for the winter season.
The GPS system detoured them through forest service roads which were receiving heavy snow.
Klein left the vehicle to walk to State Route 67 to get help.
She had some food and water and was dressed in several layers of clothing.
Happy ending for this family.
Never ever ever take a forest service road that you have never been on, in a rental car in the winter! What were they thinking?
..but we have GPS....
LOL, they really screwed up, and then they separated. She walked 26 miles? How far in were they? What was making them drive so far in?
Service trail in a rental car in the winter?
Easterners.............
This happens more than one would expect. This is the first time I have seen a happy ending to one of these stories.
Could have been worse, their GPS could have routed them down Martin Luther King Blvd after dark.
Bad: rental, service road, bad weather, unfamiliar territory, split up (did the woman play trail boss and go off alone?), probably did not register with ranger
Lucky they all survived - could have ended much worse.
Driving towards the Grand Canyon,
in a rental car,
on a park service trail,
in the dark,
in winter,
in a blizzard,
following GPS,.......
famous last words....
..it shows we’re there.....
(lucky the vehicle broke down, instead of falling down)
FAIL.
When you travel 26.0 mikes on foot, only to be unknowingly “rescued” 0.2 short of a marathon.
Still trying to figure out what service road they took. I’ve been all over there when I was younger in a rwd, and know just about all off them. GPS would not have taken them off on one of them, they are all dirt roads, not even gravel for the most part, and not really marked other than a turnout on 67. Some of them are like fire roads, with grass growing over any tire tracks. I know the gate that was closed and just before the gate there is a fire road to the right that is touch even with a good 4WD. It’s tricky to take that one to find a way to the truck trail that leads to the Rim from there. It’s not marked
I think that took the dirt road to Crystal Ridge. Its on the North Rim. Hell of a road in the summer time. Must have been a killer in the snow. The trail runs past a couple of springs, and through some tough terrain. Some switchback, and yeah, they wouldn’t get out of there without 4WD
What happened to maps? Have they, too, disappeared?
No City folks
My first time to England; rental company GPS told me to take a 90 degree left off of A-something onto a dirt trail about four feet wide. I didn’t follow instructions and simply drove ‘till I saw buildings and spent a nice hour or so in a local pub where someone actually knew how to get where I was going to.
Unless you want to have an adventure! :-)
Pffft! You expect people to still be able to read maps!?
Someone who did all the things wrong that have been listed in various earlier posts?
Not likely.
Yes. A few decades ago, me and my family rented a Jeep while in Hawaii. We got adventurous, ended up off road and got lost. No GPS back then. Ended up on a old lava flow that extended for miles all around. Somehow I found my way back to a road to get off the volcanic area. Didn't do that again. Definitely feel more unsafe on any Martin Luther King road anywhere.
That the whole country is just like the Northeast. (Except even in the rural Northeast there are logging roads and other unpaved roads.)
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