Inchworms Journal during 26 days lost...newest report

**WhiteBlaze** · 05-27-2016, 11:00

<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="7" style="vertical-align:top;"><tr><td width="80" align="center" valign="top"><a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNG0cAWZiEQcPBbCzau0g 4hBlNBQJw&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ci d=52779118718754&ei=82BIV7DJDKS38gHR8aqYDg&url=htt p://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/us/missing-hiker-geraldine-largay-appalachian-trail-maine.html"><img src="//t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR1H2iqvC__vct2EPmuWmx5HbahJvsVw hoSbLKU48VZQwja4QeT_CtMM5AiIvLLlq2WpidZ8vn8" alt="" border="1" width="80" height="80"> New York Times</a></td><td valign="top" class="j"> <div style="padding-top:0.8em;"><img alt="" height="1" width="1"></div><div class="lh"><a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNG0cAWZiEQcPBbCzau0g 4hBlNBQJw&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ci d=52779118718754&ei=82BIV7DJDKS38gHR8aqYDg&url=htt p://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/us/missing-hiker-geraldine-largay-appalachian-trail-maine.html">Geraldine Largay's Wrong Turn: Death on the Appalachian Trail</a> New York Times AUGUSTA, Me. — She was afraid of being alone and prone to anxiety, a diminutive 66-year-old woman with a poor sense of direction, hiking the Appalachian Trail by herself, who wandered into terrain so wild, it is used for military training. She waited ... <a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNHdD-Bmi4aAJj6gt23d93ahB9qGAQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b8 0cf16b898331&cid=52779118718754&ei=82BIV7DJDKS38gH R8aqYDg&url=http://www.pressherald.com/2016/05/26/hiker-who-died-on-appalachian-trail-didnt-know-how-to-use-a-compass/">Hiker who died on Appalachian Trail didn't know how to use compass</a>Press Herald <a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNGkoVOWRYBvhBltJAQXe xiXLNKAhQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ci d=52779118718754&ei=82BIV7DJDKS38gHR8aqYDg&url=htt p://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/26/hiker-who-went-missing-on-appalachian-trail-survived-26-days-before-dying">Hiker who went missing on Appalachian trail survived 26 days before dying</a>The Guardian <a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNEG4Pq9ktk2mAH2w-JsPxAIErf7aQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331 &cid=52779118718754&ei=82BIV7DJDKS38gHR8aqYDg&url= http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36389383">Appalachian Trail: US hiker 'lost for 26 days before dying'</a>BBC News <a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFyqTnIDN39Z2tPfDS5_ GglkUokAA&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ci d=52779118718754&ei=82BIV7DJDKS38gHR8aqYDg&url=htt ps://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/05/25/hiker-who-died-after-disappearing-from-appalachian-trail-survived-for-weeks/KAcHuKSdYVHNTNu0qQobvK/story.html">The Boston Globe</a> -<a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNE6W2rbpKqm7yqjHraEh J9YrLG-nw&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779 118718754&ei=82BIV7DJDKS38gHR8aqYDg&url=http://www.people.com/article/hiker-missing-appalachian-trail-dead">People Magazine</a> -<a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNHHRe7lBdzqZXt8YJ0O-3-Fnn6D6A&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid= 52779118718754&ei=82BIV7DJDKS38gHR8aqYDg&url=http://www.inquisitr.com/3135524/geraldine-largay-appalachian-trail-hiker-found-dead-left-behind-document-of-final-days-spent-lost/">The Inquisitr</a> <a class="p" href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dsRYqih6YkvcXcMeXJJ_EpGQ2A5KM&authuser=0& ned=us">all 122 news articles »</a></div></td></tr></table>

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**Mags** · 05-27-2016, 11:25

Administrative note: Since Geraldine has been found, I continued to merge the threads. However, I felt the current thread title was more appropriate in light of recent finds vs the previous one. All the previous posts are still in this thread.

**chknfngrs** · 05-27-2016, 11:26

Additional details could be withheld out of respect for privacy of her loved ones

**greenpete** · 05-27-2016, 12:17

This case was a perfect storm. Inchworm didn't have a compass, map, or GPS device. She was out of cell phone range. She was hiking in one of the most densely forested parts of the AT. She disappeared near a SERE facility, and the warden service (evidently) was reluctant to concentrate searching here, despite a logging and old railroad road that she may have followed. Her old hiking partner claims she had a poor sense of direction and often became flustered. And most tellingly, she suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, which may explain why just sat there, in a thick patch of forest, paralyzed. Bottom line, despite the many trail miles she'd accrued... she shouldn't have been hiking alone. R.I.P., Inchworm.

**WhiteBlaze** · 05-27-2016, 13:30

<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="7" style="vertical-align:top;"><tr><td width="80" align="center" valign="top"><a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFjsOTaV6W1M7e-if4ZJwneZN4BSg&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b8983 31&cid=52779118718754&ei=HYRIV5DIAobL8AGAqLHAAQ&ur l=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lost-hiker-was-two-miles-appalachian-trail-when-she-died-n581611"><img src="//t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUBkFCvBJq21LiJWs0NoSyFzASvHp6p ai_0pOmkpXrGmdZT_5l6NxVuPrg5k_JylzNwiSnxFoB" alt="" border="1" width="80" height="80"> NBCNews.com</a></td><td valign="top" class="j"> <div style="padding-top:0.8em;"><img alt="" height="1" width="1"></div><div class="lh"><a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFjsOTaV6W1M7e-if4ZJwneZN4BSg&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b8983 31&cid=52779118718754&ei=HYRIV5DIAobL8AGAqLHAAQ&ur l=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lost-hiker-was-two-miles-appalachian-trail-when-she-died-n581611">Lost Hiker Was Two Miles From Appalachian Trail When She Died</a> NBCNews.com It turned out that Largay, who died while waiting for help that never arrived, was just two miles from the Appalachian Trail. Largay's account of her final days was included in the 1,500-page file that the Maine Warden Service released this week and ... <a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFm8QijH97VDaBB0g1Mh 5hXLnzAhw&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ci d=52779118718754&ei=HYRIV5DIAobL8AGAqLHAAQ&url=htt p://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/28/travel/appalachian-trail-safety-tips.html">A Guide to Safety on the Appalachian Trail</a>New York Times <a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNHdD-Bmi4aAJj6gt23d93ahB9qGAQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b8 0cf16b898331&cid=52779118718754&ei=HYRIV5DIAobL8AG AqLHAAQ&url=http://www.pressherald.com/2016/05/26/hiker-who-died-on-appalachian-trail-didnt-know-how-to-use-a-compass/">Hiker who died on Appalachian Trail didn't know how to use compass</a>Press Herald <a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNEG4Pq9ktk2mAH2w-JsPxAIErf7aQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331 &cid=52779118718754&ei=HYRIV5DIAobL8AGAqLHAAQ&url= http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36389383">Appalachian Trail: US hiker 'lost for 26 days before dying'</a>BBC News <a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNGkoVOWRYBvhBltJAQXe xiXLNKAhQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ci d=52779118718754&ei=HYRIV5DIAobL8AGAqLHAAQ&url=htt p://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/26/hiker-who-went-missing-on-appalachian-trail-survived-26-days-before-dying">The Guardian</a> -<a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNE6W2rbpKqm7yqjHraEh J9YrLG-nw&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779 118718754&ei=HYRIV5DIAobL8AGAqLHAAQ&url=http://www.people.com/article/hiker-missing-appalachian-trail-dead">People Magazine</a> -<a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFyqTnIDN39Z2tPfDS5_ GglkUokAA&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ci d=52779118718754&ei=HYRIV5DIAobL8AGAqLHAAQ&url=htt ps://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/05/25/hiker-who-died-after-disappearing-from-appalachian-trail-survived-for-weeks/KAcHuKSdYVHNTNu0qQobvK/story.html">The Boston Globe</a> <a class="p" href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dUwOjos0C-V7EfMtv1vkQhrLE79yM&authuser=0&ned=us">al l 129 news articles »</a></div></td></tr></table>

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**GST** · 05-27-2016, 14:38

Undiagnosed Alzheimers?
http://m.alz.org/10-warning-signs.asp

**Seatbelt** · 05-27-2016, 14:47

Originally Posted by saltysack

+1....she would have passed much sooner without gear obviously...I don't ever loose sight of my pack...I see people drop packs at blue blazes and think how dumb that is...HYOH...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I disagree. I think if she had left her pack at the trail where she left to pee--it probably would have shortened and condensed the rescue efforts . She probably would have been found alive. JMO

**msupple** · 05-27-2016, 15:53

Originally Posted by Connie

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.

Usually fog and cloud cover doesn't last for 26 days.

**Another Kevin** · 05-27-2016, 16:54

I can see such a thing happening to me only if illness or injury pins me down - in which case, that's what my PLB is for, and I virtually always bring it on trips. (I occasionally venture into the deep backcountry, and am sometimes miles from any trail.)

If I'm cliffed out -- well, I got there somehow, if I go back where I came there has to be a path off the rock somewhere.

And I agree that in the East, downhill always goes to water, downstream always goes to a river, and every river has a town on it. Stream banks aren't often an easy bushwhack, but they are usually at least passable. If you keep track of what side of the stream you're on, you can angle back to it if you have to climb to get around an obstacle. Streams are good handrails.

The whole thing about staying put is fine advice for eleven-year-old boy scouts who are probably just out of sight of a developed site in the front-country - which is why we all hear that advice when we're kids. It's pretty bogus advice once you're a grownup in the big woods and have even the most basic of orienteering skills. The best rescue is self-rescue.

The hardest people for searchers to find are the ones that hide. A lot of those are pre-school and school-age kids who've gotten such a hefty indoctrination in 'stranger danger' that they hide from search parties. But I could imagine that an adult with an anxiety disorder, on one who's afraid of incurring a huge bill from SAR, would do the same. (That, in turn, is why I'm dead set against charging for SAR. No matter how stupid the person was. It creates a perverse incentive to avoid rescue - which puts searchers at considerably greater risk.)

And I know that I've had people along on bushwhacks who were close to panic as soon as they were out of sight of anything human-made. At least once I had to abort a trip because of the emotional agitation of a hiking partner, who just couldn't cope with the "OMG, I can't see any sign of a trail, I don't know where I am, what are we going to do?" that came upon him. The answer, "I know perfectly well where we are, we're following a compass bearing and in three hundred yards I expect to hit the ruins of an old stone wall and turn right" didn't overcome the visceral panic, "what if you're wrong?" The guy had at least a few hundred miles of trail walking under his belt, but just couldn't cope with trackless woods. (It was even a nice open forest!) I could easily see him getting into serious trouble if he ever went badly astray.

**wnderer** · 05-27-2016, 17:31

Lesson: That cellphone ain't gonna save you.

**ScottishLass** · 05-27-2016, 17:42

Originally Posted by Driver8

It hurts to think of Gerry's ordeal. Saddened to hear what she went through and for how long and how close she was to getting rescued. Crying shame. Maybe the only good to come from it would be as a case study in how to cope with a crisis situation in the wild.

It seems the better approach here would have been some solid coaching about what to do when lost, as part of a through orienteering class. Each of us has certain strengths and weaknesses, and a key is to identify each weakness and develop a good sense of how it works, how to recognize its onset or situations where it has to be confronted, and solid steps for coping. Here "OK, Gerry, you're lost, but you can manage this. Let's develop a plan. Use compass, map and certain techniques. We can do this if we take it slow, smart and sensible. And yes, I'm freaked out, but some deep breaths, maybe yell to let out some anxiety." Etc.

It seems clear that so long as she was on or close to trail, she was OK - she made it about 1000 miles from Harper's Ferry to Maine. Slow, but ok. But getting too far from the structure that the trail afforded incapacitated her emotionally. So sad that the lost her way physically, which seems to have gotten her off course mentally.

She hiked almost that entire distance with a partner.

**mattjv89** · 05-27-2016, 17:46

Has anyone been able to locate the actual information release? There is nothing on the Warden Service's website about it and I'm striking out with Google, despite every news outlet mentioning the 1500+ pages of released information. I'd love to peruse the whole release instead of being spoon fed a few details per day by the media.

**ScottishLass** · 05-27-2016, 17:58

Originally Posted by mattjv89

Has anyone been able to locate the actual information release? There is nothing on the Warden Service's website about it and I'm striking out with Google, despite every news outlet mentioning the 1500+ pages of released information. I'd love to peruse the whole release instead of being spoon fed a few details per day by the media.

I'm not certain about this, but I believe the information was released to the author of the Boston Globe articles, Katherine Miles (sp?) as a result of her Freedom of Information Act request.

**MuddyWaters** · 05-27-2016, 18:58

Originally Posted by Another Kevin

And I know that I've had people along on bushwhacks who were close to panic as soon as they were out of sight of anything human-made. At least once I had to abort a trip because of the emotional agitation of a hiking partner, who just couldn't cope with the "OMG, I can't see any sign of a trail, I don't know where I am, what are we going to do?" that came upon him. The answer, "I know perfectly well where we are, we're following a compass bearing and in three hundred yards I expect to hit the ruins of an old stone wall and turn right" didn't overcome the visceral panic, "what if you're wrong?" The guy had at least a few hundred miles of trail walking under his belt, but just couldn't cope with trackless woods. (It was even a nice open forest!) I could easily see him getting into serious trouble if he ever went badly astray.

Ive seen people very agitated and worried because they havent seen a white blaze in 1/4 mile. Asking "If they were still on the AT".

This paranoia of getting lost with no intersecting trails or way to get off or on the AT.

**Chair-man** · 05-27-2016, 20:16

Originally Posted by mattjv89

Has anyone been able to locate the actual information release? There is nothing on the Warden Service's website about it and I'm striking out with Google, despite every news outlet mentioning the 1500+ pages of released information. I'd love to peruse the whole release instead of being spoon fed a few details per day by the media.

I believe this is a copy of the report https://assets.documentcloud.org/doc...ort-Exerpt.txt

Sure were a lot of resources put into the search. IMO, the fact that someone told the searchers that they had seen Geraldine near Spaulding Mountain really threw a wrench into the search putting the search in the wrong area. Lesson learned - be skeptical of eye witness sightings.

The thing that gets me is she had a whistle and it's hard to believe no one ever heard it.

**lightingguy** · 05-27-2016, 20:40

Plus no obvious attempt to start and maintain a fire.

Poor location to setup a tent if you want to be spotted by a plane or helicopter (noted in the report).

As to whistle, possibly it got used for a few days, then not so much with no result ?, speculation. I'm not clear as to the timeline as to when they were searching the hillside near her location, possibly the false Spalding LT sighting concentrated the search in that area initially ?, then moved further west ?. Again, not sure.

It was obvious from Warden Kevin Adams report, that he thought the terrain and vegetation lent itself to a self rescue possibility, mentioning somewhat clear vegetation as well as a 30 minute walk downhill to a logging road, then the old railroad road. Obviously Gerry had other things happening that made that not an option.

So and like a lot of similar cases (Into the Wild comes to mind) just a few bad choices made with unfortunate results.

Sad way to end.

**Connie** · 05-27-2016, 20:52

Originally Posted by ScottishLass

She hiked almost that entire distance with a partner.

Where was her hiking partner?

**Bluebearee** · 05-27-2016, 21:27

Originally Posted by Driver8

It hurts to think of Gerry's ordeal. Saddened to hear what she went through and for how long and how close she was to getting rescued. Crying shame. Maybe the only good to come from it would be as a case study in how to cope with a crisis situation in the wild.

It seems the better approach here would have been some solid coaching about what to do when lost, as part of a through orienteering class. Each of us has certain strengths and weaknesses, and a key is to identify each weakness and develop a good sense of how it works, how to recognize its onset or situations where it has to be confronted, and solid steps for coping. Here "OK, Gerry, you're lost, but you can manage this. Let's develop a plan. Use compass, map and certain techniques. We can do this if we take it slow, smart and sensible. And yes, I'm freaked out, but some deep breaths, maybe yell to let out some anxiety." Etc.

It seems clear that so long as she was on or close to trail, she was OK - she made it about 1000 miles from Harper's Ferry to Maine. Slow, but ok. But getting too far from the structure that the trail afforded incapacitated her emotionally. So sad that the lost her way physically, which seems to have gotten her off course mentally.

Very well said. I think that is precisely what happened. Paralyzed in what became her new comfort zone: the immediate area around her tent.

**Bluebearee** · 05-27-2016, 21:33

Originally Posted by greenpete

This case was a perfect storm. Inchworm didn't have a compass, map, or GPS device. She was out of cell phone range. She was hiking in one of the most densely forested parts of the AT. She disappeared near a SERE facility, and the warden service (evidently) was reluctant to concentrate searching here, despite a logging and old railroad road that she may have followed. Her old hiking partner claims she had a poor sense of direction and often became flustered. And most tellingly, she suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, which may explain why just sat there, in a thick patch of forest, paralyzed. Bottom line, despite the many trail miles she'd accrued... she shouldn't have been hiking alone. R.I.P., Inchworm.

She did have an AT section map according to the contents of her gear when found last October and a small keychain compass.

I do think paralyzed is the correct assessment. It's very sad and unfortunate.

**tdoczi** · 05-28-2016, 03:27

Originally Posted by chknfngrs

Additional details could be withheld out of respect for privacy of her loved ones

thats not how FOIA works. if it was in an official government report and someone requested it, it gets released (national security, which this sint, aside). or are you suggesting the official government report deliberately left things out out of respect for privacy?

Thread: Inchworms Journal during 26 days lost...newest report

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