Lost on the Appalachian Trail

[Ben]

I ran into this tragic story from 2013. An elderly woman was hiking the Appalachian Trail and got lost while going off trail for a bathroom break. She remained lost for a month before dying of exposure (based on the journal they found).

This is one of those instances where she did the recommended thing by staying in one place, but would have been better off moving. Apparently Search and Rescue came within 100 yards of her tent, with dogs even, and missed her.

https://historicflix.com/the-heartbreaking-tale-of-geraldine-largay/

[MechAg94]

100 yards is pretty far in thicker woods.  I can see how they wouldn't see her.  I am curious if they were making noise, but if she was sleeping maybe it wouldn't matter. 

[Ben]

100 yards is pretty far in thicker woods.  I can see how they wouldn't see her.  I am curious if they were making noise, but if she was sleeping maybe it wouldn't matter.

No doubt, which is why it appears she made the normally safe move to plant herself. Sadly, she was also pretty close to a clearing they flew over where they would have spotted her. The article mentioned she was "easily lost", and I wonder if she was just too scared to move even 50 yards?

[gunsmith]

I think I recall that story, I often track stories about missing hikers.

 I'm glad I spent a lot of time in the BSA in the early seventies.

[Boomhauer]

Most people would be shocked at the amount of people who die in the woods, and in areas that aren’t really that remote. It’s a fairly frequent occurrence oftened marked by nothing more than a local missing persons report.

We had a case of a guy who died just off trail (tumbled off a ledge) and it took three days to find his body, and that was on a fairly easy trail.

[230RN]

She should have fired three shots in quick succession from time to time.  I understand three shots (or three of anything) is a "universal" sign of trouble and gunfire can be heard with reasonable directionability for at least a mile, even through heavy woods.