Inchworms Journal during 26 days lost...newest report

[Driver8]

[QUOTE=Alligator;1514426]This is the search map as of Sunday 8/4/13. I pulled it from here. The say Sunday's search was focused on the side trail to Abraham. The picture suggests searching did not reach the summit or maybe not intensively. A lot of the area I had considered they already covered.

East side of Abraham, leaving the summit is the edge of the search, going towards town not recorded as searched. The 4WD trails south of Lone MT, no search boxes in places going towards Caribou Pond and south towards Barnjum. They may have done some searching towards Barnjum though I think that was mentioned. No grid to the east of the AT just prior to Spaulding MT shelter. Looks steep there, but not somewhere someone would go intentionally. Was water good at the shelter, any need to climb down to get water? Says spring behind the shelter.

Thanks, Alligator. That's the map I had looked at - sorry I didn't more clearly remember the heavily searched area of Abraham per that map. It does feel likely to me that if they extended their search areas a bit, along lines we've discussed, there's a reasonable chance of finding her. Such a tough situation, to understate it.

[coppertex]

Here is a new article from today: http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/...ional-mystery/ Those last few lines are chilling

[Bluebearee]

Thanks for the report. I note that this is inconsistent with the report above that Inchworm still had a tent to take down at 8:30 am. Your account appears to make more sense though, as there was a text at 7ish. Enjoy the canoeing!

Which leads us back to the question I posed much earlier. 8 hours to go 5 miles bespeaks her physical state on Monday the 21st. She was tired from the Saddlebacks.

Does anyone know why she didn't sign registers @ shelters?

Thanks .com would love to see those photos!

[BA]

Thanks for the links! I do see a picture of an emergency shelter in a link from Alligator's thread close to the tower on the summit. The trip report is dated July 2013.

http://summithikinginnewengland.blog...ly-5-2013.html

I have also seen reports of a camp area (including privy) on the relatively flat area heading to Mt. Abraham. That is where I would likely stay.

HI -- along with two bridges out (that will require your ford to get to the trailhead), be prepared for several water crossings on the trail. And with the rain we have had today and last night, they are bound to be high.

I hiked the Fire Warden's trail in November and did not see a privy anywhere. There is a flat, nice, meadow-like camping spot where the fire warden's cabin used to be (perhaps there is still a privy there, but I don't recall one there when the cabin was there, so I am not sure). The emergency shelter at the summit of Abraham is in the photo here. It shows the roof.

Accessing Abraham from the Barnjum Road is, in my opinion, a challenge. I have been told how to get there several times by people who really know, and even with directions written down, I have been unable to find that access on my own. I ski there a lot in the winter, but it is far easier to follow snowmobile trails and logging roads in the winter when the groomer has gone through than in the summer when all old twitch trails, secondary ATV trails, game paths, etc. look like a possible path to the elusive trailhead. The way through West Kingfield is a far more straight forward approach to the trailhead, once you get over Rapid Stream and Norton Brook.

I wish I could join you. Good luck. Thank you for heading out there.


DSC08470.jpg

[Bluebearee]

Here is a new article from today: http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/...ional-mystery/ Those last few lines are chilling

Thanks for that link. Even more info disclosed esp talks with Sue @ the Stratton Motel. And I also see that Todd the AT's chief ranger was on site for the search so that was good to know. He's crackerjack, worked with him when I ridge ran.

[Symba]

Coopertex, thank you for the article link. The double rainbow and lights in the sky are odd and interesting.

[Bluebearee]

HI -- along with two bridges out (that will require your ford to get to the trailhead), be prepared for several water crossings on the trail. And with the rain we have had today and last night, they are bound to be high.

I hiked the Fire Warden's trail in November and did not see a privy anywhere. There is a flat, nice, meadow-like camping spot where the fire warden's cabin used to be (perhaps there is still a privy there, but I don't recall one there when the cabin was there, so I am not sure). The emergency shelter at the summit of Abraham is in the photo here. It shows the roof.

Accessing Abraham from the Barnjum Road is, in my opinion, a challenge. I have been told how to get there several times by people who really know, and even with directions written down, I have been unable to find that access on my own. I ski there a lot in the winter, but it is far easier to follow snowmobile trails and logging roads in the winter when the groomer has gone through than in the summer when all old twitch trails, secondary ATV trails, game paths, etc. look like a possible path to the elusive trailhead. The way through West Kingfield is a far more straight forward approach to the trailhead, once you get over Rapid Stream and Norton Brook.

I wish I could join you. Good luck. Thank you for heading out there.


DSC08470.jpg

I just got good directions to Barjum Rd by a group of hikers that joshuasdad linked to earlier (they hiked Abe 7/5 this way). It is the route used by the searchers so should be even more beaten down. I plan on going up Sunday or Monday. Pouring today on the coast too.

[Turtle Feet]

Investigators believe that the supposed phone call to the Stratton motel was a mixed up jumble of calls the woman received.

EE, I realize that this is now what investigators are saying, but Sue Critchlow sounds quite sure of herself in this report (thanks for posting coppertex http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/...ional-mystery/ )- and she relayed that info to the wardens the very next day after she received the call.

"That evening, Sue Critchlow, who runs the Stratton Motel — about five miles from the AT in the village of Stratton — received a phone call, she said, from a woman who told her that she wanted to get word to George Largay that his wife would be late in meeting him. Critchlow’s motel includes an inexpensive hikers’ bunkhouse.
The woman on the phone, Critchlow said in an interview, told her that she had spent Tuesday night with Gerry at the Spaulding Mountain Lean-to.
Critchlow, who regularly ferries hikers to and from the trail, serves as a kind of message board for hikers and gets many calls of this sort. She said she hadn’t met George Largay — he was not staying at her motel — but she had heard from hikers that the man she had seen in a car at the Wyman trailhead for several days was looking for his wife.
But he wasn’t there, she said, when she went to pick up hikers later Wednesday evening. When the warden service called her on Thursday, seeking information from hikers about Gerry, she told them about the call."

Makes me wonder - are investigators trying to deflect attention away from that call??? How could it go from something so specific to a jumble of calls? Doesn't add up for me.

[HikerMom58]

Here is a new article from today: http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/...ional-mystery/ Those last few lines are chilling

Thanks for sharing. coppertex. Made my heart sink a little thinking about the "mystery caller"...I'm not feeling good about that at all for some reason. But, I want to keep thinking about her feasting on berries until she's found.

[Ktaadn]

I, too, am confused (and troubled) by the mystery caller. The call to the motel occurred before most people even knew Inchworm was missing. In fact, at that point I think she was just considered "late", not really missing. If the caller had met Inchworm and Inchworm had asked the caller to contact George, wouldn't Inchworm have given the caller George's cell phone number? The news accounts of this entire situation raise more questions than they answer. perhaps I've just become obsessed, hoping for Inchworm's survival, but I wish some reporter or spokesperson for authorities would clear up the mystery of this caller.

I know I'm a little late on this, but I'm trying to read through the posts in reverse. To the point, has anyone mentioned the possibility that the "mystery caller" was actually Inchworm? If the call happened before she was considered missing, then it would make some sense that it was her trying to get in touch with her husband.

Does anyone know if George would have had cell phone service while waiting in his car by the road? Maybe she tried to call him, didn't get through and then called the motel. Is the motel in the guidebook that she was carrying? I know some think that the phrasing of the message indicates that it came from a third party, but to me it seems normal to say, 'Tell George that his wife(meaning herself) will be late.'

The motel owner states that the caller said, 'she had spent Tuesday night with Gerry at the Spaulding Mountain Lean-to' Is it possible that this is an error on the part of the owner? That she misheard what was said on the phone?

[joshuasdad]

I know I'm a little late on this, but I'm trying to read through the posts in reverse. To the point, has anyone mentioned the possibility that the "mystery caller" was actually Inchworm? If the call happened before she was considered missing, then it would make some sense that it was her trying to get in touch with her husband.

Does anyone know if George would have had cell phone service while waiting in his car by the road? Maybe she tried to call him, didn't get through and then called the motel. Is the motel in the guidebook that she was carrying? I know some think that the phrasing of the message indicates that it came from a third party, but to me it seems normal to say, 'Tell George that his wife(meaning herself) will be late.'

The motel owner states that the caller said, 'she had spent Tuesday night with Gerry at the Spaulding Mountain Lean-to' Is it possible that this is an error on the part of the owner? That she misheard what was said on the phone?

Makes a lot of sense, however, I would hope that the authorities would tell us that a call was made from Inchworm's phone to the Stratton Motel Phone. She could have borrowed someone else's phone to make the call.

The Stratton Motel is in both hiker guides, including the AWOL one she carried.

As an FYI, pouring down rain at Sugarloaf now. Not looking good for going out tonight.

[Turtle Feet]

Ktaadn - it's been verified by hikers that were at Spaulding on Tues. (and Mon.) night that Gerry was not there.

I had actually had the same thought early on, but that would have required a 'ping' on her phone, and the last ping was near Lone Mt. on Monday around 3pm.

Highly doubtful it was Gerry unless she had been using someone else's phone, in which case with all the inquires about her whereabouts, I would think someone else would have come forward saying Gerry asked to use his/her phone on Tuesday night.

[Driver8]

Does anyone know if George would have had cell phone service while waiting in his car by the road? Maybe she tried to call him, didn't get through and then called the motel. Is the motel in the guidebook that she was carrying? I know some think that the phrasing of the message indicates that it came from a third party, but to me it seems normal to say, 'Tell George that his wife(meaning herself) will be late.'

The motel owner states that the caller said, 'she had spent Tuesday night with Gerry at the Spaulding Mountain Lean-to' Is it possible that this is an error on the part of the owner? That she misheard what was said on the phone?

This is a very plausible reading of Sue Critchlow's recollection. George could've been without signal when Gerry called, then she called to lv message with Sue, knowing she serves as a central communications node on the A.T. hiker network in the area and would get the message out to George. It would be interesting to hear from Sue whether the call was clear or garbled - if the latter, it could explain some degree of imprecision. She could've said "Tell George Largay his wife is staying at Spaulding lean-to tonight - I'm staying there tonight (this part garbled) - and will meet him tomorrow at Hwy 27." That could lead to the mis-interpretation that the caller, Gerry, was another woman.

On the Gerry departing for a new life front, referenced in the article, I hate to address it, but this long remote stretch would be a fitting place to bail from one's life and get a good lead on getting away. For her life's sake, I suppose there's some hope in that, but a grim sort of hope at best. From the little we know of Gerry, it seems pretty unlikely, anyhow. I prefer the scraping by on berries scenario, though it offers little hope by now.

I understand that the wardens made a calculation to search the highest likelihood area with the resources available, but I hold to the thinking that Alligator has suggested, that there's a significant chance she could be near the high-density search area, just not within it. That being the case, it's loathsome, even if necessary due to limited resources, that they appear unable to pore the fine-toothed comb over some of these areas we've discussed. The whole thing is awful.

[Driver8]

Here is a new article from today: http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/...ional-mystery/ Those last few lines are chilling

Thanks for the link, coppertex - that's the best, most thorough article I've read to date on this subject.

[Ktaadn]

Makes a lot of sense, however, I would hope that the authorities would tell us that a call was made from Inchworm's phone to the Stratton Motel Phone. She could have borrowed someone else's phone to make the call.

The Stratton Motel is in both hiker guides, including the AWOL one she carried.

As an FYI, pouring down rain at Sugarloaf now. Not looking good for going out tonight.

Ah yes, the phone records. I hadn't even thought of that. Wouldn't the phone records of the motel, show the number of the incoming call? If it wasn't Inchworm's phone, they would certainly know whose.

[joshuasdad]

Here's the initial search map, which you might be able to use in combination with Alligator's to determine the extent of the entire search. I am interested in the area near the yellow pin in the bottom right of the map.

[sliderule]

Ktaadn - it's been verified by hikers that were at Spaulding on Tues. (and Mon.) night that Gerry was not there.

Which makes the alleged call all the more interesting.

[rocketsocks]

Which makes the alleged call all the more interesting.

Not hearing from the caller is “kind of strange,” said Lieutenant Kevin Adam, head of the service’s Incident Management Team, at a press conference. However, when the wardens concluded that Gerry hadn’t stayed at the Spaulding shelter, they assumed the call was from a long-distance hiker who had lost track of the days of the week.

Read more: http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/...#ixzz2bVYgd6vQ




That's what I'm thinkin too, sounds like this needs to be addressed further, and not assumed what they think they know...according to the writer of this article.

[Mitey Mo]

Dare I share this? I'll go out on a limb and be the weirdo... http://thephoenix.com/Boston/news/13...e=5#TOPCONTENT

Somebody DID mention this as an explanation. And to SOME people it is plausible. There is so much in this world that we can't explain.

[SawnieRobertson]

Here is a new article from today: http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/...ional-mystery/ Those last few lines are chilling

Lance Tapley is an excellent writer/reporter. I hope that soon he will be able to write "Mystery Solved."