LOST HIKER IN Spaulding mountain area maine.

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Maine Warden Service released the entire file. I believe that Portland Press Herald and Bangor Daily News may also have received the same.

Having met this couple in June prior to her disappearance, it hurts my heart that George now knows she was alive and waiting for help during the early weeks of SAR.
 
Well that is just heartbreaking to read. I found myself hoping, in spite of already knowing the outcome, that somehow the outcome would be different. My deepest condolences to her friends and family. I hope the passage of time has provided some peace, and that the painful memories are dwarfed by the good ones.
 
Finally a story that seems to tell the story. It's a very sad story that would not have had to have much change in order to have her still living and enjoying life.
 
Anyway to shut this thread down? I had sent a private message requesting this, not sure what happened? This thread has run its course and with the closure for the family it seems time to shut it down. As the O.P. I should have this right to request this. The thread was started to help find a lost hiker, not to discuss hack theories and wander of course. Thank you.....
 
<Mod Hat>
We understand that this thread was started with a very different intent but the nature of message boards is that threads go where they want. The OP has some say in the initial direction but after that it's up to the membership of the board. There is still more information coming out about the case and people are still very interested in discussing it. The thread will fade over time as no new information is forthcoming. I don't think the thread is disrespectful to the family, nor is it ghoulish interest in the details.

If people have other thoughts on the thread please send them in PM to me or the other moderators. In the meantime I don't see a reason to close the thread.
</Mod Hat>
 
It's a crying shame what happened to her. The Boston Globe's article makes her plight sound noble and courageous in the face of death. At the risk of sounding cold-blooded, it was also a needless death. It's the story of a person who hunkered down for 19 days, until her death, less than a kilometer uphill from a road (Railroad Road). Basically she walked uphill into the woods, became lost, pitched her tent, sent text messages, and waited for a rescue that never found her (while she was alive).

I haven't read a single article indicating she attempted self-rescue (lighting a signal fire and hanging mylar from trees is passive self-rescue at best). Her mindset was fixed on being rescued.

I also question this article's potential use of artistic license to describe Gerry's story. Here's one tiny excerpt from the Boston Globe:

Gerry stood up in the dense underbrush and donned her pack. She looked around. She took a few steps in what she believed was the direction back to the trail. It didn't feel quite right.
Click to expand...

So Kathryn Miles from the Boston Globe was with Gerry when she stood up and donned her pack and looked around? Did Kathryn ask Gerry if she felt things "didn't feel quite right" or did she interpret it from the expression on Gerry's face? If you're going to tell me they got this from Gerry's incredibly detailed diary, then they should just publish it and dispense with the reporting equivalent of a Hallmark movie reenactment.

No, seriously:
Late that Monday afternoon, she pitched her tent. It was a crummy site, but the best she could hope for that day.
Click to expand...
Really? She pitched her tent west of an old logging road. So maybe it wasn't the best she could hope for that day.


Note the map scale. Gerry's final resting place is 800 meters north of Railroad Road and far less from the brook and logging road.


It's an article engineered to tug at heart strings. It glosses over the fact this person was a 1-2 hour downhill walk (along a brook) from where she initially wandered off the trail. Likely the very same brook Gerry used to wash the pink shirt she received from her husband and maybe where she spent time reading her novel and practicing knot-tying with dental floss (I'm not being sarcastic, it's all there in the article).

At least another report didn't overlook to mention her grieving family was led to visit the site and then were surprised by the fact it took them less than an hour to descend to Railroad Road.

Gerry's real story is tragic with a capital "T". It should be held up as an example of what a fit and uninjured backpacker with several days supplies should not do (certainly not past 4 days) and how important navigation skills are to survival. My heart goes out to her loved ones but this tragedy is being milked and for the wrong reasons.
 
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" ... how important navigation skills are to survival."

Yet, how many among us have navigation skills? What about when the GPS batteries are dead?

And, how many have firebuilding skills and tools ... matches?

What about foraging?

I think there is a lot to learn from this thread, especially when there's a little introspection.

The human interest aspect also captures my attention and though one might criticize Gerry for not finding her way out, she did one thing that SAR people recommend ... don't wander, stay put if you don't know where you're going. Now, there's a lot that you can do if you know how to do it but she apparently wasn't strong on navigation so she did the next best thing. She knew how to set up a camp and try to make herself easier to find. That was a critical decision and a correct one but luck was not on her side.

As for the poetic license of the article. I expect it was derived from the journal Gerry kept.

I wish I had known her but I think I know at least a few people like her.
 
Stan said:
She knew how to set up a camp and try to make herself easier to find. That was a critical decision and a correct one ...
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Demonstrably false. Dead after 19 days of camping.

This isn't the first death due to "staying put" and waiting beyond all reason. It happened to David Boomhower in 1990 on the Northville-Placid Trail (see Chapter 11 of "At the Mercy of the Mountains" by Peter Bronski).

It'll undoubtedly happen again because accumulating mileage and following trail signs is all that seems to be needed to be called an "experienced" hiker (as the media is so fond of reminding everyone). Fact is, this adult died like a child; she wandered into the woods bereft of the skills needed to walk back out. If you can't walk 50 feet into the woods and return to the trail, you've just identified a potentially fatal skills-deficiency. David and Gerry proved it.
 
Dave, initially I agreed with you. But, reading the post after yours, having second thoughts.
 
Trail Boss said:
Demonstrably false. Dead after 19 days of camping.

This isn't the first death due to "staying put" and waiting beyond all reason. It happened to David Boomhower in 1990 on the Northville-Placid Trail (see Chapter 11 of "At the Mercy of the Mountains" by Peter Bronski).

It'll undoubtedly happen again because accumulating mileage and following trail signs is all that seems to be needed to be called an "experienced" hiker (as the media is so fond of reminding everyone). Fact is, this adult died like a child; she wandered into the woods bereft of the skills needed to walk back out. If you can't walk 50 feet into the woods and return to the trail, you've just identified a potentially fatal skills-deficiency. David and Gerry proved it.
Click to expand...

Not to pour gas on the fire here but isn't that "Survival 101" when you get lost in a reasonably populated area to stay put and let rescuers find you, particularly if someone knows your approximate location like her husband did? I have seen that advice in countless books and documentaries, from SAR blogs, etc. If she was out in the middle of nowhere like Alaska or severe weather was forecast I'd say that advice may not apply but in this case it seemed to make sense. Having a signal whistle, building a fire, etc, etc would seem to have helped given her decision. (I did not take the time to reread this whole thread and specifically what she did so please don't eviscerate me on the details. Just making a general statement that there are many tactics to employ if you're staying put and trying to effect a rescue to increase your odds of being found). I regularly read about rescues in the NY DEC email broadcast where people get lost, stay put and they are quickly located. A few failed examples among thousands of success stories doesn't really disprove the strategy of waiting to be found. This incident, to me, seems like a somewhat incredible combination of low probability events that strung together against the odds and created the bad outcome it did.
 
@dug

I made no violations of the Terms of Service so I assume you simply prefer the Boston Globe's romanticized view of events.

I think there's a valuable lesson revealed by this tragedy that's critical to hiker safety. I think it's far more important than the Boston Globe's choice to focus on how she killed time while the stopwatch ticked down on her life.

If nothing else, the tragedy demonstrated that blind faith in a timely rescue is just that, blind. The majority of lost hikers are found within 48 hours. Beyond that, the odds drop dramatically. What does that mean for the lost hiker? If you haven't been located in 72 hours, that's a bad sign; they're having a very difficult time finding you. If you're uninjured, you might want to reach for your map and compass and formulate a Plan B.
 
I have found this thread interesting, it is human nature to seek answers to such a tragic event. The fact that most of us spend time in the same such places, even adds to the desire to wonder how we would fare in a similar scenario. I would ask first, if anyone has ever really been lost in the backcountry? I have been twice, once in NH bushwacking to a rock climbing cliff, but it was not really being lost, we knew it would be easy to get out. The second time was out west in CO when I was solo. I'll tell you this, everything changes in regards to your mood and your ability to stay focused. I honestly had to sit down and get my head screwed back on, before my progress was beneficial to my situation. Everyone reacts to a situation like hers based on their own background and current state of mind. The latter is critical, if your not at the time, a strong and well centered person, in can greatly affect your decision making process. One bad choice can lead to another and the lack of correction at a critical junction could be the last straw. I believe for some reason she reached a point where she lost sight of her situation, it is the only explanation for her staying put. Initially, setting up a camp and waiting to be found was not the worst idea, fairly standard. That being said, a time comes when your resources and physical health dictate that you must change plans and try to find your way out. For some reason she never made that decision and it cost her dearly.
 
David Metsky said:
<Mod Hat>
We understand that this thread was started with a very different intent but the nature of message boards is that threads go where they want. The OP has some say in the initial direction but after that it's up to the membership of the board. There is still more information coming out about the case and people are still very interested in discussing it. The thread will fade over time as no new information is forthcoming. I don't think the thread is disrespectful to the family, nor is it ghoulish interest in the details.

If people have other thoughts on the thread please send them in PM to me or the other moderators. In the meantime I don't see a reason to close the thread.
</Mod Hat>
Click to expand...

35,000 views and 139 replies. I agree with Dave. Let it play out.
 
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