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‘When you find my body, please call my husband,’ wrote dying hiker lost along the Appalachian Trail
washingtonpost ^ | 26 May 2016 | M Miller

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 ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Hobbies; Outdoors
KEYWORDS: geraldinelargay; gerrylargay; hike; hiker; hiking; largay; lost
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To: miss marmelstein

What 50 something is not old anymore?


141 posted on 05/26/2016 3:33:51 PM PDT by the_individual2014
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To: Psalm 73

“But really how far off trail do you have to go to tinkle to get lost?”

Well, she’s a girl....

(Flame-retardant suit on)>>> and the line was long


142 posted on 05/26/2016 3:33:58 PM PDT by kvanbrunt2
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To: DUMBGRUNT
What a sad story. Cracker Jacks used to have a compass as the "Toy Inside" from time to time. Not sure if this would have helped this lady but it couldn't have hurt.


143 posted on 05/26/2016 3:38:50 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a Simple Manner for a Happy Life :o)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

A Garmin topo GPS with breadcrumb trail would have saved her life. So much for saving a couple hundred bucks.


144 posted on 05/26/2016 3:40:24 PM PDT by AlaskaErik (I served and protected my country for 31 years. Progressives spent that time trying to destroy it.)
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To: the_individual2014

“an old man in his 50’s “. . . . LOL


145 posted on 05/26/2016 3:46:43 PM PDT by atc23 (The Confederacy was the single greatest conservative resistance to federal authority ever)
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To: dirtboy

two weeks since she had pitched her tent underneath a copse of hemlock trees atop a ridge

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.>>>. agreed and maybe a train track or old train bed. in pa the trail crosses rt61 at port clinton (yeh) there is a place to shower up and get a room for the night. I’ve hiked hunted along the trail there. and you can’t get lost much but if you do you just follow the water all the say to town. first day hiking however i had a map of the entire place and knew exactly where i was at all time. compass map orienteering.


146 posted on 05/26/2016 3:47:30 PM PDT by kvanbrunt2
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To: the_individual2014

Did you know John Muir hiked all through rugged California wilderness well into his 70’s?


147 posted on 05/26/2016 3:48:51 PM PDT by atc23 (The Confederacy was the single greatest conservative resistance to federal authority ever)
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To: kvanbrunt2

There’s a men’s room behind every tree.


148 posted on 05/26/2016 4:04:36 PM PDT by ChuteTheMall (Tagline: (optional, printed after your name on post):)
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To: the_individual2014

No, not at all.


149 posted on 05/26/2016 4:08:33 PM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard the Third: With my own people alone I should like to drive away the Muslims)
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To: TalBlack

That makes three of us!


150 posted on 05/26/2016 4:09:20 PM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard the Third: With my own people alone I should like to drive away the Muslims)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Should have watched a few episodes of “Mountain Men” or “Naked and Afraid” before she took off into the woods - at least she might have known how to make a basic shelter or start a fire.....


151 posted on 05/26/2016 4:12:27 PM PDT by Intolerant in NJ
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Pitiful

Was her mind not right?

Four weeks to just sit and wait to die?

That’s just bizarre


152 posted on 05/26/2016 4:17:20 PM PDT by wardaddy (No wobbly Donald....full steam ahead)
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To: Enchante

Follow water downstream

Follow setting or rising sun

In Maine either way you hit a road in due time

It ain’t Siberia


153 posted on 05/26/2016 4:19:46 PM PDT by wardaddy (No wobbly Donald....full steam ahead)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

A big fire in Maine would have attracted search planes

She was a trail Walker by the book

Not a woodsman

Naive

Sorry for fam


154 posted on 05/26/2016 4:25:19 PM PDT by wardaddy (No wobbly Donald....full steam ahead)
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To: miss marmelstein

Yeah....I agree

But post menopausal woman are not easy to command

Trust me


155 posted on 05/26/2016 4:27:09 PM PDT by wardaddy (No wobbly Donald....full steam ahead)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I’ve never been a thru-hiker, but when I was younger I went on extended trips and did large swaths of the Appalachian Trail from the late 70’s through the early 90’s. In all I’ve done 800+ miles (Springer to past Rockfish Gap) and some sections I’ve done twice. I had plans to complete it one summer but marriage, a career, and three children took my attention. In recent years I’ve been more of a hunter and fly-fisherman than a backpacker, but I still hit the trail on occasion.

Back in the 90’s certain backpacking leaders began to urge a minimalist approach to gear, which I have always believed dangerous. Yes, a very light pack allows hikers to have a more enjoyable hike, which is all well and good until an emergency arises. I know of several fairly mundane situations that became trail emergencies due to lack of proper gear. I have no idea if this poor lady started the A.T. with a compass, but there’s a decent chance that if she did, it was dumped along the way to achieve a lighter pack, likely at the urging of some misguided guru who convinced her she’d never need it.

I’m an old scout. I believe in being prepared. But that doesn’t just mean having sufficient gear, it also means having sufficient knowledge to think yourself out of trouble. Or better yet, avoid it all together.


156 posted on 05/26/2016 4:30:26 PM PDT by .45 Long Colt
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To: DUMBGRUNT

If she’d had a gun, she could have shot an endangered species and the feds would have been on her in no time.


157 posted on 05/26/2016 4:30:32 PM PDT by sphinx
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To: wardaddy

As are over the hill men who know everything!


158 posted on 05/26/2016 4:31:13 PM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard the Third: With my own people alone I should like to drive away the Muslims)
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To: Enchante

“If she’d had a compass and the most minimal knowledge of how to use it she would have had no trouble getting back to the trail.”

That’s it in a nutshell, Enchante. The poor woman became disorientated and obviously had no knowledge about how to get herself out of trouble. I’d guess that she had neither a compass nor map and wouldn’t know how to use those tools if she did. So unfortunate.


159 posted on 05/26/2016 4:50:09 PM PDT by sergeantdave ( If not you, who? If not now, when?)
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To: miss marmelstein
decades ago when the kids were young, we went camping every summer....in upper Michigan...We got A campsite near the upper falls and the kids went out exploring...they were gone too long and I was getting worried...Put a leash on my husky and we headed down to the falls...I put in mind as I walked landmarks so I could easily find my way back. Didn't think it through enough. When I turned around to go back, there was no landmarks I put in my mind. It looked different going forward than going back... I told my dog to “lets get back” and let her lead me....she got us back to the campgrounds....good doggie....but we came out of the woods at a different spot than where we entered....Hubby was right, sitting in the camper like nice little kids was all 5, waiting for me to find my way back....my dog wasn't lost, just me.....
160 posted on 05/26/2016 4:55:08 PM PDT by goat granny
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