My thoughts also she should not have been alone
My thoughts as well, her friend should have made it abundantly clear to her husband she was incapable of hiking alone. I make this statement based upon a report her husband was unaware of her navigation problems.Originally Posted by samton
All day today I been thinking about the same things
Agree +1
Seems like lots of folks are speculating and putting blame on Gerry herself for contributing to her own demise through bad or foolish decisions and ignoring the most obvious, which takes any blame for her demise away from Gerry herself. That obvious speculation is that she suffered from some kind of debilitating medical emergency such as a series of mini strokes coupled with her known medical conditions that prevented her from saving herself by doing some of the things being suggested. It is rational and reasonable to assume she was restricted to her tent and unable to do anything other than scribble notes due to a debilitating illness.
and a whistle. I carry both at all times.
How terrible for her and her family. But it sounds like maybe she should have never been out there alone.
https://tinyurl.com/MyFDresults
A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White
With all the tragedy, it is important to see the romantic triumph in this story. Her last words reached out to her husband!
The picture that I saw of her, apparently taken while on the AT, showed an emergency whistle attached to her pack shoulder strap. I wonder if she lost it or it maybe wasn't a picture from her on the AT and she wasn't carrying one. A good whistle can be heard from a long distance in most circumstances.
Something like this is exactly why my wife bought me a Delorme InReach. And why I download topo maps to my iPhone so it will still work in gps mode even with no cell signal. As well as why I carry paper map, compass, a really loud whistle and know how to start a very serious signal fire.
Most people don't carry a compass on the AT as a compass is not considered necessary, by most trail experts, on a well marked and heavily traveled trail such as the AT.
Even without a compass if you knew which side of the trail you exited you should be able to figure the general direction back to the trail simply by observing the sunrise and sunset. For the most part the trail runs north/south although there are those rare occasions that it briefly turns the other way. Very sad indeed.
Heavy cloud cover, or, fog, or walking inside clouds up in the mountains can make that invalid.
I step off a trail to find the right spot, where I would not be observed, I often walk this way and that, not at all straight out-and-back.
I think reading about this is helpful, if only to consider doing a different outdoor activity might be more suitable.
Geraldine Largay is one of many of us who suffer with mental illness. I thought she would have not been cognitive not to have been found. 3 different dog handlers within 100 yards on 3 different occasions. She simply froze in place, and did little to make her precense known. I to have had episodes where I have spent days cognitive but frozen. The AT is good theropy for those who suffer mental illness. I hope the loss of "Inchworm" does not deter anyone in need of theropy from experiencing a long hike.
Last edited by Son Driven; 05-27-2016 at 01:45.
W T F are you talking about??
Yes and also yes!
Another article - this one with a lot more detail. I have very mixed feelings. On the one hand, coverage like this might encourage people in the future to plan on the possibility of getting lost, what one might do. On the other hand, it seems like an intrusion into a deeply personal tragedy.
http://www.pressherald.com/2016/05/2...use-a-compass/
As people have suggested here, she may have suffered from a medical episode that made it impossible to get herself out of the situation, or help SAR teams.
I was in close proximity to the deaths of two young women who were kayaking. I launched at the same time as they did, on a sunny day. They were about a third of a mile away. A dense fog bank rolled in. I did *not* have a compass with me, but used the wind as a natural compass, and found the shore, hand-railed along the shoreline until I reached my put-in spot. The young women got lost in the fog, and eventually only one of their bodies was found. It was a haunting experience - I could not help but to turn over and over in my mind the why's and what-ifs. Ultimately there's never a bed-rock answer that can be found that might make us feel safe. Some of the secrets remain in the ocean and in the forest. I suppose it might be best that this is the case.
I know that technology is not a replacement for knowledge of use of compass and map, but the Press Herald article said that she had a SPOT device but left it back in a motel. I don't remember reading that before. It's sad to think that had she not forgotten that and it was in working order at the time she was lost, that could of been one more thing that could of had the potential to save her life.
Last edited by SteelCut; 05-27-2016 at 09:51.
Remote for detachment, narrow for chosen company, winding for leisure, lonely for contemplation, the Trail beckons not merely north and south, but upward to the body, mind, and soul of man.
So she had map and compass
But lack of knowledge of how to use
Interesting she had hearing aid but did not have it with her as well. Its possible she missed hearing searchers.
So, she left her SPOT and hearing aid behind, wandered more than a mile from the trail on a bathroom break, and didn't make too much effort to save herself, including trying to use the map and compass, or whistle. If it weren't for the text messages asking for help I would wonder if she had been suicidal.
if she was suffering a medical emergency why didnt she write anything about it? not even an "i dont feel well" or something? seems she didnt write anything. or do you think you did and it is still being withheld? if so, give me a break. at some point the facts are the facts and we all have to go ok, thats what happened and stop trying to introduce our own speculations into it. this continued insistence by some that there just HAD to be some sort of medical emergency going on is getting more and more tiresome the more and more evidence to the contrary appears.
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