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No, I have not as I actually haven't hiked around Mizpah Spring Hut. It is not marked on OpenStreetMap. I did find a zoomable map with a picture here: https://www.trailrunproject.com/trail/7018473/webster-cliff-trail . Personally, I don't mark anything on OSM that I haven't visited or that I...

Some water sources are marked on OpenStreetMap - they show up as little blue circles in current map visualization. For example here: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/44.30997/-71.31280 you should be able to find Spaulding Spring and Gulfside Spring. The problem is that they are not easy...

This hiker being missing was publicized in a large Facebook group early on, so attention was building up fast as people were reading about it (FB pushes trending post to the top of the feed) and there was no quick conclusion to the SAR effort. I'm not really surprised that a lot of people felt...

If this young lady did not accidentally walk off the trail (at least for the most part of her hike) then I guess part of her bad luck was that she did not run into anyone else on the trail. If she met other hikers they might have recognized that she was in trouble and perhaps offer some...

I was actually thinking about adverse event analysis and how it compares to how plane accidents are handled. I guess in case of plane accidents there is a clear public interest in getting to the root cause and publishing the results as this can be used to make safety recommendations possibly...

I look at Facebook 4k group but rarely comment on it. Day Trip's comment on this group being very large (72k+ members) is spot on. I think in general Facebook is not a great medium for long in-depth discussions, it seems to be optimized to keep users glued to the screen, so new posts appear to...

Truly sad ending. I feel really sorry for her family.

To add a glimmer of hope here, I recall two cases of lost skiers in recent history: In early 2004 Dan Witkowski, a lost skier in Cascade Mountains, survived 4 nights in frigid temperatures before being found. In 2018 (perhaps late 2017) a firefighter from Toronto, Danny Filippidis, went...

There is a lot of speculation at this point and not a lot of hard facts, and when statements are made about her equipment it is hard to assess how credible they are. One thing for sure, cold nights without warm cloths and a decent sleeping bag can be pretty rough, to put it nicely.

"Computer algorithm" can mean a lot of different things from getting a list of hikes that are not more than 15 miles long to something like "I see you liked these trails recently, so let me suggest a few similar ones that you might enjoy." Anyways, I think expected views is something that a lot...

Running a Website like this is quite a commitment! Thanks for your time and dedication!

Helicopters are expensive! Instead, I think one day inexpensive and easy to operate drones will revolutionize reconnaissance and initial response to calls requesting SAR intervention. Here is what it might look like in the future: After a distressed hiker calls 911 requesting assistance a...

Honestly, I really doubt that a random NH visitor would know & remember any special numbers to call in case they need assistance while hiking. 911 is probably the only number that everyone is likely to know, and even this is not so obvious if you consider that visitors come from around the world...

"Broad Peak" is a 2022 movie about a Polish climber Maciej Barbeka and first winter ascent on Broad Peak.

With the zipper running through the center of the pack I would worry that it would break if strained too much.

Funny that you mention radioactive fish! In April I went backpacking in Grand Canyon with a group of friends. Our permit had a note that we shouldn't be drinking from Horn Creek (where we camped on second night) because arsenic content in water samples exceeded municipal standards. After a hot...

I have backpacked in California a few times, including a trip to Yosemite last year. All of these trips were planned months in advance, so the reservations were not a huge obstacle but they sure can take spontaneity out of the equation. Perhaps this is easier to accept with California weather...

Really great report! It reminded me of this book "Minus 148 degrees" that I read a while back. Personally, I know my limits (which are much lower) and I'm generally pretty careful not to exceed them.

[... ] I was worried about trying to call 9-1-1 with my battery level and didn't think I would be able to connect to a call and share my info before my phone died. [...] I think low battery with no backup plan for recharging is a plausible argument for reaching out earlier rather than later.

One thing that hasn't been discussed here yet (or I haven't noticed it) is that an always-on device with GPS and track recording capability makes it easy to retrace your steps even if the maps on your device are bad. Paper maps are great if you know where you are and / or you can see some...