I read found that she was 3000 yards off the trail a good fire would have been easy to spot a big fire would have brought in hundreds.
If a little fire didn’t do it a big one would.
It says she was a experience hiker I wonder how experience she was hiking in parks and on trails is a whole lot different then bush whacking.
Isn’t “Experienced hiker” just a person who can walk on uneven terrain without rolling their ankle?
I wonder why she didn’t mark her route when she first left the trail? Carry a ball of rope or twine and tie it to a tree along the trail before leaving the trail, or break twigs and leave other marks along the way off trail (or both).