Posted on 05/26/2016 4:13:07 AM PDT by Daffynition
AUGUSTA, Maine —Documents show an Appalachian Trail hiker whose remains were found last year in Maine survived at least 26 days after getting lost.
During that time, her texts went undelivered because of poor cell reception.
The Boston Globe reports Geraldine Largay kept a journal in which she acknowledged that she expected to die and that it might be years before her remains were found.
(Excerpt) Read more at wmtw.com ...
Beats being intubated, IV’d and cathetered in an ICU.
She was hiking with her husband: She had set out in the morning about an hour before him, and he never saw her again. The area she was lost in is called the 100 mile woods because the trail runs without any paved roads or civilization for 100 miles.
Hikers need to carry at least 10 days worth of food for that stretch of trail, since no resupply is possible...
It is postulated that she went off trail to relieve herself, and never found her way back to the trail. Perhaps she was a bit too reliant on trail markers and cell phone technology (which was non functioning) and didn’t maintain an adequate awareness of her surroundings.
But we all make mistakes.
May she rest in peace.
This article is old information. I have not read it, but the info gleaned from promo on the article has been public knowledge since they found her body a couple of months ago. A Portland Maine online publication, TheBollard.Com has extensive coverage of the case including the details that she was on or near a US Navy survival training camp where soldiers are put through psyops seniarios. There are questions as to why the Navy was not enlisted to help with the search.
From what I have read, this woman should not have been left alone to navigate outside her own neighborhood.
You know what I mean. If you have ever been stuck in the woods, you know you can walk in a general direction.
She was hiking with her husband: She had set out in the morning about an hour before him, and he never saw her again.
Incorrect, she was hiking alone. Her husband was driving and meeting her every couple of days. She was reported missing a day after she did not appear at their asigned meeting place.
“She apparently never built any fire for at least a smoke signal?? something since they would have been searching close to where she was...”
Yep, agree.I’m not what I woul call an experienced hiker but I am an experienced hunter. Back in the day I would sometimes hunt over in New Mexico on BLM land and Lincoln National Forest; a remote area for sure. I always carried a compass, area topo map, skinning knife, Bic, a couple of power bars, pancho, and TOILET PAPER, LOL!
Ayah, a city girl , from away.
Yeah, and having the local wildlife take care of that funeral is a plus.
After all this time it is amazing they found anything.
I shouldn’t make light. Too bad she died, she could have and should have been a survivor.
How could she not have a real compass?
Even without a compass.
Walking in a straight line in the woods is a challenge - even for trained people. Most tend to drift left.
No question. There are stupid people in every National Park wandering off and never coming back.
I feel bad for her family.
But you and I both know that you don’t voluntarily step into the wilderness without basic provisions and knowledge. That has been drilled into my head from the first day of Boy Scouts.
I had a motorcycle break down on me on the road to the Racetrack Playa in Death Valley. It took me a couple of hours to get back on the road. I never saw a car and it was about 115 degrees.
But I was prepared with shelter, water, comm (sat phone) and tools. At no time did I feel like I was in trouble. I thought about breaking down before I left.
I hope others read this story as a cautionary tale.
26 days? Know where you are and where a town is (General direction.) Find a stream, and go down-stream. It will probably get to a bigger stream. Go down stream. You will find civilization.
Agreed. Out here in the mountain west the usual tactic is to move downhill. Downhill you get warmer, safer from weather, find water, and eventually find a road somewhere down in valleys. It may take you a day or two on your own, but unless you’re injured and immobilized there’s not much excuse for not getting found or finding your own way out.
If you can pick out an object in the distance in the right direction, you focus on that. A tree, a hill, a rock, whatever.
When you reach it, verify your direction. And do it again. It takes a little training. And you can do it without a compass. If you have a watch, you can use the sun. At night, hunker down and build a big fire.
Although, once you realize you are lost, you sit your ass down. Build a fire and wait. Someone will find you. Don’t panic. Think about what you are doing.
In this case, she wandered 3,000 yards off the trail? Thats about two miles (just shy of two miles.) She broke a lot of rules.
There are vast patches of woods in the US that do not have any readily available landmarks or defining features to use as a marker. Using a compass takes some experience. I find city slickers lost in the outback around here once or twice a year. Even with a real smartphone GPS feature - no map preloaded and out of cell range.
Yep.
Maine is an easy place to get lost, even on the AT. A friend of mine and myself found ourselves lost in Baxter State Park in the 80s while on the final leg of the trail. We took a side trail that whittled itself down to a moose path before we realized what had happened. We were out there for four days before we navigated ourselves back to a road using compass and visual guides.
One night, we had a moose stick his head in our tent around 3:00 am. Trust me, animals look a lot bigger and meaner when you’re lost than when you’re not!
AMEN!
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