Posted on 05/26/2016 1:18:25 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Geraldine Largay knew she was doomed.
It had been two weeks since she left the Appalachian Trail to go to the bathroom and lost her way; two weeks since she had wandered deeper and deeper into the woods of northwest Maine in search of a cellphone signal to message for help; two weeks since she had pitched her tent underneath a copse of hemlock trees atop a ridge; two weeks since she was supposed to meet her husband, waiting for her in his SUV on Route 27.
Largay’s food was running low. Her water, too.
So the 66-year-old retired nurse sat down and wrote a note to whoever might find her — after she was dead.
“When you find my body, please call my husband George and my daughter Kerry,”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Also, when your hiking partner has to go home for an emergency and asks you to do so as well, DO IT.
I’ve always loved Helen and her very tragic but gallant teacher, Annie. Two great old broads. Annie loathed politics which is why her marriage to her husband broke up.
When I worked in NH there was a guy that took time off to do the trail and he was an old man in his 50’s, I heard the trail was no joke and that there are bears as well along the way.
Atop a ridge. No water.
You can go 30 days at least without food. No water, 3-5 days.
If you are ever lost in the woods, go low. Keep going downhill. You will be near water to replenish your supply and also will, in all likelihood, encounter a road or a house.
“Maybe it was too wet to start fires, but over 3 weeks...”
Nah, the weather records show that Maine was very hot and relatively dry during that timeframe:
https://weatherspark.com/history/31343/2014/Portland-Maine-United-States
Women in general do not seem to have as good a sense of direction as men. I wonder if this was part of the problem.
Yes, and if you can’t find the human trail, you can surely find a game trail, and game trails lead to WATER.
there’s an old saying, “you can have 18 yrs of experience, or one yr. of experience 18 times”
She may have been hiking over some years, but she obviously never progressed beyond the most miniscule knowledge. Indeed, she should have learned what would have saved her life in this case before she ever went out on a hike alone.
Sorry if anyone doesn’t like criticism of the dead, but I’ve been on mountain rescues and have many friends who devote a lot of their lives to rescuing stupid people making stupid choices. There is reasonable risk (we can always debate what risks are reasonable, of course), but then there is downright blind reckless ignorant risk.
“——took time off to do the trail and he was an old man in his 50’s, “
Wow,that old?
Incredible. :-)
.
“The article says she was “no beginner”, but what else can you call someone who has a lighter and still can’t get a fire lit in Appalachia in July?”
Most folks here in the city can’t start a fire without a gallon of lighter fluid
But why step off it so far for one poop? I feel terrible for her and her family but she was not very competent.
Not sure about that. If that was all that was needed, then sun rising gives direction of east, if visible in thick woods & underbrush. Knowing a direction only helps if she knew which direction she departed the trip from. Regardless she was unprepared and now gone. R.I.P.
Well, she had a lighter too, even if that was the problem.
A phone is not at all rugged enough for hiking. Yes, most phones have a GPS receiver but they are only designed to navigate you to the store and back.
Get yourself a good GPS unit. And even a basic unit that pinpoints your location so that you can look it up on a map.
actually I’m embarrassed that a woman my age would be so stupid as to rely on her dumb cell phone to survive in the wilderness instead of common sense...
Springer Mountain in northern Georgia
goes up to Mt. Katahdin in central Maine
there are many branch and side trails, but that is the “official” Appalachian Trail as maintained by the Appalachian Trail Conference
No, she DID have water. She was near a stream.
Yes, they say women navigate based on landmarks, relative navigation, while men rely on cardinal directions, absolute navigation. Seems obvious which method is going to be better when you are lost in an unfamiliar area.
An old man in his 50s! LOL!
Lacking even that, all you need to know is that you only hiked so far from the trail. Mark your current "I'm Lost!" location, and mark your new path. If you don't cross the trail in twice the time it took you to get away from it originally, head back to your original "I'm Lost!" location, then head out 90-degrees from that direction, and do the same thing. Repeat as necessary.
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