Inchworms Journal during 26 days lost...newest report

[Bluebearee]

The sleeping platform is the most interesting fact I've heard. She must have been feeling fairly strong if she was capable of collecting the materials and fashioning the platform. Did Geri hike with a sleeping pad (mattress) as protection from the cold ground? If so, she must have built the sleeping platform because she knew she might be there for awhile. Did she have a whistle with her? I wonder if she heard the searchers.

It was reported by others she didn't like to tent and preferred shelters so I can't imagine she didn't have some kind of sleeping pad w her, every single thru hiker carries something. So I too am perplexed by a constructed bed under the tent.

She had a large orange whistle displayed prominently on the shoulder harness of her ula pack, as seen in the famous last photo taken of her hours before disappearance.

[TexasBob]

........... So I too am perplexed by a constructed bed under the tent. .............

Could she have done this to create a flat spot for the tent? The area where she was found has been described as a knoll.

[Slo-go'en]

Could she have done this to create a flat spot for the tent? The area where she was found has been described as a knoll.

When camping in the raw woods, one has to clear an area of sticks and rocks and what not, this is what they might have meant.

[timeless_man]

I believe that when they refer to the "Tote Road" they mean the path that leaves the AT about 1/4 mile north of Orbeton Stream and then comes back to rejoin the AT further north forming sort of a boot pattern. The road at Oberton Stream is known as Railroad Rd and is an obvious road (actual an old railroad track).

Exactly so, Don H

[timeless_man]

Regarding the "platform of pine needles", the first time i saw it i was a little perplexed. It was very dense and packed down, firm, and defined. Edged would be the word. I think it served two purposes, both of which you folks have mentioned-- to insulate and to make the ground more comfortable. It's about five and half feet long and about 3 feet wide. it wasn't until i returned a week later and saw the family's memorial to Gerry placed at the head of the 'platform' did it sink in for me that, yes, this is indeed was where she rested. Say what you want about time and weather-- IMO she spent considerable time and energy to make herself more comfortable. As I've said before the tree canopy from the place where her 'campsite' (ME's words-- not mine) was not thick. Admittedly this was in October but I'll be back this July to see the whole thing again. Here's the other question though-- what about the rest of her gear ? Was it all there? The only mention of anything is the 'red jacket',the tent and the sleeping bag. What about that big Orange Whistle, hiking poles, back pack, boots etc? And why was Kevin Adam so dodgy about confirming the existence of the tent at the press conference. and i, for one, am still waiting for some clarification on the COD. First it was "starvation, dehydration and exposure" and now it's "Inanition due to Prolonged exposure." Last I checked you don't starve in a day or two. And lets remember Gerry was a career nurse-- I'm guessing she was well versed in the necessity of proper nutrition. And remember she was dining in town with her husband regularly. She spent Saturday night and Sunday morning in Rangely, hiked to Poplar on Sunday, and got up Monday morning looking like a million bucks. RIP Inchworm. We're still asking questions for you.

[Alligator]

so the day she went missing she left poplar ridge lean-to but never made it to spaulding mtn. lean-to 8 miles north. i've walked that section 5 times and recall the tote road down around oberton stream. the FIRST place i would have searched would be that tote road. no brainer. the whole thing is fishy

Your initial thoughts on this were that she was possibly abducted on Caribou Valley Road. I'm not pointing it out as a contradiction but rather to highlight the reason you considered Caribou Valley Road. Recall that three southbound hikers reported her as being about 2 miles south of Spaulding Mt. Lean-to in the late afternoon. This was later determined to be a different woman (Ivanitch or similar I believe it was). This is why the search was concentrated north of Lone Mountain. It was a baffling piece of misinformation, because if she had crested Lone Mountain, it made no sense why she wouldn't have made it to Spaulding. I don't know when that was disproved, but I think it was some time after she had disappeared. Knowing now that it was not her on Lone Mountain in hindsight, yeah, some of those side trails between Orbeton Stream and Lone Mt would be strong candidates for search. I would've searched them, there are two on the westbound side of the trail marked on my map.

Something that I noticed in reviewing part of the early thread is that there was cell phone coverage reported as available on Lone Mountain. Looking back, that is a missed clue. If there was coverage there and she did not avail herself of it, perhaps she was further south (as was the case). It may not have been known to the warden's though and it would have contradicted the reported sighting. It seems like if signal strength could be gathered on the ground that it might be a useful bit of information to layer on a search map, particularly on a linear geographic feature like the trail. Reports initially were that a "hasty search" was used. I'm thinking they have case studies from which to aggregate data and decide optimal search patterns.

[Starfly]

One thing to note Don, t-man and others is that there are a few tote roads up there. There is a second north and northbound of the one we're talking about that might also go into the navy base. I believe its the one that Jeffery (the ranting sar fellow?) is talking about from Buzzards paste a couple pages ago. I think there are two others as well.

Buzzard, your lack of respect for Gerry and the family by trolling about football on here is just poor taste. You seem to have some moments of real insight lets keep it that way.

The SAR members involved in this whole search are by all accounts wonderful and did a valiant job searching for Inchworm. There deserved our utmost respect. Those ordering them where to search did not conduct a good search. Thats not debatable. You can ask cops, wardens, and even many members of the SAR involved, who picked up on the mistakes and did not want to search in some of the areas they were ordered to. Second guessing in a constructive criticism way is important to improve future searches and could even save lives.

So nobody would go and search for someone if they could where they live? Hmmmmm well, it was a decent tidal wave anyway.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I'm wondering if the good folks of WB would go in search for someone in a similar situation near their localities the next chance they get. Almost nobody posting is from Maine or even close so you could not have helped us try to find Inchworm. Its unfortunate but undeniably true, no matter how you define the ME report, that she possibly could have been found alive. If not she could have been found much much sooner than she did resulting in those resources directed to other wilderness scenarios and persons in need. There were precious few people searching for her from the public sector and most of those hopelessly in the wrong areas. Grab a small team, the usual gear, and go search a chunk of land for someone if you can safely do so wherever you are from. I think Gerry would approve. Would anyone do that?

One thing to note Don, t-man and others is that there are a few tote roads up there. There is a second north and northbound of the one we're talking about that might also go into the navy base. I believe its the one that Jeffery (the ranting sar fellow?) is talking about from Buzzards paste a couple pages ago. I think there are two others as well.

Buzzard, your lack of respect for Gerry and the family by trolling about football on here is just poor taste. You seem to have some moments of real insight lets keep it that way.

The SAR members involved in this whole search are by all accounts wonderful and did a valiant job searching for Inchworm. There deserved our utmost respect. Those ordering them where to search did not conduct a good search. Thats not debatable. You can ask cops, wardens, and even many members of the SAR involved, who picked up on the mistakes and did not want to search in some of the areas they were ordered to. Second guessing in a constructive criticism way is important to improve future searches and could even save lives.

So nobody would go and search for someone if they could where they live? Hmmmmm well, it was a decent tidal wave anyway.

I'm not "trolling about football." Nor am I in any way disrespecting Gerry or her family. My comments are directed at those who criticize the best efforts of people who had to make difficult decisions at the time the situation occurred, based on the limited information and time constraints they had to work with. You are Monday morning quarterbacking the decisions and actions of the Wardens Service after the fact by throwing out speculations and accusations of incompetence that imply the outcome would have - not might have - been different if they acted differently. You also imply that WB members who don't go out and search for someone missing in their locale are somehow less than entitled to comment and/or don't know what they are talking about because they don't agree with you. A bunch of unorganized volunteers of unknown ability traipsing through the woods, perhaps getting lost or injured themselves, potentially confusing the search effort, or compromising a crime scene if it came to that, isn't generally the best plan when someone goes missing. Just because someone hikes doesn't mean they are skilled at searching for people lost in the woods.

While critiquing an event after the fact is often a necessary learning process, your second guessing, as noted in bold, doesn't read as constructive criticism. It sounds more like an outright accusation that the Wardens Service is grossly incompetent and that Gerry would be alive today or would have been found shortly after her disappearance - if only they knew what they were doing.

[Alligator]

...

So nobody would go and search for someone if they could where they live? Hmmmmm well, it was a decent tidal wave anyway.

I searched for a guy once on the AT. He wasn't particularly lost. I was camped at a shelter in No. VA. one evening and two guys showed up. Ended up talking with them and they were planning on meeting up with a third buddy later. They had hiked in about 2 miles or so and they were still waiting for him to show when it got late. The two of them hiked out along the trail looking for him. He was bringing his own gear and they just thought he was slow in arriving. I stayed in camp and kept the fire going. It got to be past midnight and they came back without him, said they checked the side trails and hadn't seen him. Wasn't much else to do at that point, so we went to sleep. They were staying the next day at the shelter so we parted ways. On the way out to the trailhead, I went looking down the side trails. I got to the end of one and there was a tent pitched kind of on a hill. Figured it was him. They had told me his name so I called out to the tent. He was inside, he was ok. He got in late and decided to just pitch the tent. Told him where his buddies were and that they were looking for him.

Another time a little boy was lost in the area it was thought he had wandered off into the woods. I watched the story all day, I was checking maps of the area to see where he might have gotten to. I've hiked in all kinds of weather at night and I was planning on grabbing some gear and heading out to help. There were some quirks in the story though and I didn't go. The boy wasn't lost in the woods as it turned out anyway.

I went searching for an out-of-state family's dog one night. They had an accident on the interstate and the dog ran off when the vehicle crashed. They looked but had to the leave the area. Didn't find it though, was a long shot anyway.

[Acacia]

I have a question in the hopes of understanding SAR procedures. First, I think the Maine searchers gave it their all. They concentrated in areas further NOBO from where the 3 sobo male hikers were said to have seen her because a sighting was the best information they had. After they realized the 3 sobo men had not seen Gerry, but had seen ivanic, would it have been helpful to narrow their focus as such: 1) switch from embankments (where she could have fallen) to trails/roads branching off the AT (mistaking one for the AT), and (2) switch from areas NOBO of Lone Mtn to areas closer to Orbeton Stream?


The reasoning is: I understand she was a careful hiker, she stuck very close to the trail or what she thought was the trail. But she was said to have sometimes gone in the wrong direction. It was therefore more likely that she took the wrong trail rather than fell off an embankment. We also know that ivanic left poplar at 9am and arrived spaulding at around 4pm, that's 7 hours (the 3 sobo males saw her around 2 or 3pm). Divide the AT between those 2 points into 7 hours starting at 9am. We know Gerry left at 7am. Her previous hiking partner can give an estimate of her miles/hour. But not knowing that and I think she was slower than ivanic, I used a slower pace than ivanic's and noted where she may have been on the hour starting at 7am. From the attached map, Ivanic would have eventually caught up to Gerry somewhere between Orbeton Stream and a bit further north, way, way before Lone Mtn. But since Ivanic never saw her and neither did the 3 sobo males, it means Gerry was already off trail somewhere between Poplar and just past Orbeton Stream.

inchworm c.jpg

Maybe the searchers already took all this into account


I've learned quite a bit from this thread. Always bring a map and compass, use your whistle when needed, pay attention to where you're going, watch out for hypothermia, if you're very lost and near a trail, stay on it so you can be found more easily...

[TexasBob]

...........So nobody would go and search for someone if they could where they live? Hmmmmm well, it was a decent tidal wave anyway.

If they asked for volunteers I would but otherwise I would not interfere with an on going search.

[Don H]

What you're describing is call a "Hasty Search". This is a tactic used in SAR to quickly search the most likely areas. In this case side trails and drainages are places that a lost hiker would most likely follow.

[gpburdelljr]

In 111 pages of this post, the only useful information I've seen is the links to official reports.

[Don H]

In 111 pages of this post, the only useful information I've seen is the links to official reports.

and we thank you for this useful comment

[TexasBob]

In 111 pages of this post, the only useful information I've seen is the links to official reports.

Try this thread, its packed full of useful info.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...Wipes-Question

[poconoron]

Does anyone know how far up RR road from the south is driveable towards the AT?

[timeless_man]

Does anyone know how far up RR road from the south is driveable towards the AT?

I drove my 2 wheel drive pick-up to within a twenty minute walk to where the AT crosses the RR road. I'm sure the road is currently closed due to snow and mud.

[poconoron]

I drove my 2 wheel drive pick-up to within a twenty minute walk to where the AT crosses the RR road. I'm sure the road is currently closed due to snow and mud.

Thanks much............is there a parking spot there as well? I'll be up in Maine in August.

[John B]

Thanks much............is there a parking spot there as well? I'll be up in Maine in August.

Are you aware that this is a thread about Geraldine Largay, a lady who died while hiking and whose body was not found until recently? Perhaps you should consider starting a new thread about road access and parking in Maine?

[Starfly]

Good stuff there Acacia thats a pretty good break down. In short yes it would have been helpful. It could have saved her life. If the hasty searches were noted on the WS map, unfortunately the tote road was searched very little. Based on the narrative of the warden service they were 'all in' on the Lone Mtn area and did not divert much manpower to the south at any point. There were some searches down though and a significant amount of K9 searches to the south.

Glad to know if volunteers were asked for some would help. You're awesome Alligator