Inchworms Journal during 26 days lost...newest report

[Alligator]

For those of you may have just read the title to the thread and thought the Warden was looking for everyone who has ever hiked the trail to play arm chair detective based on second and third hand report about where she may or may have went and what areas of Maine to search.

That was NOT the assistance they were seeking.

Some of you obviously feel that is the assistance they need. It is/was not. They simply wanted to talk to anyone who was the trail who might have seen inchworm the day or two before her disappearance.

Hope that clears that up.

Hi. Finding Gerry is the main objective. This has not happened. People discussing possible search locations/possibilities in a respectful manner, that is not an issue. If a respectful discussion jars loose some possible bit of local lore that might be helpful, that would be awesome.

If you have an issue with a thread use the report post icon or contact a moderator, do not jump in a thread and proceed to tell everyone how the thread should be run as you are not a moderator. Thank you.

[joshuasdad]

For those of you may have just read the title to the thread and thought the Warden was looking for everyone who has ever hiked the trail to play arm chair detective based on second and third hand report about where she may or may have went and what areas of Maine to search.

That was NOT the assistance they were seeking.

Some of you obviously feel that is the assistance they need. It is/was not. They simply wanted to talk to anyone who was the trail who might have seen inchworm the day or two before her disappearance.

Hope that clears that up.

It appears that the Wardens have all but given up, so in my view, it is quite appropriate for the AT community to try to figure out what happened. I stayed out of the searchers way this weekend (hiked a different section), but am at Sugarloaf base this week on part vacation/part work from remote. I provided first hand information about the trail, and have seen no visible search activity in the past four days.

[Turtle Feet]

Inchworm was well on her way to being a day late to ME 27. I agree that if she wanted to bailout, given sufficient information, it makes sense that she would spend the night at Spaulding Lean-to on Monday night, and then descend down Sugarloaf ski slopes the next day, thus being able to contact her husband on Tuesday as planned.

That's just it - she wasn't behind schedule The media (once again) had the days wrong. She wasn't due to meet up with George until Tuesday. The plan was to stay at Spaulding Monday night, then hike out Tuesday.

[joshuasdad]

That's just it - she wasn't behind schedule The media (once again) had the days wrong. She wasn't due to meet up with George until Tuesday. The plan was to stay at Spaulding Monday night, then hike out Tuesday.

Spaulding Lean-to to ME 27 is 13.5 miles, including a very difficult descent off of Sugarloaf, and a difficult ascent over the Crockers. It seems unlikely to me that a 7-8 mile hiker staying at Spaulding Lean-to would have arrived on Tuesday. Remember, it took her 10 hours to do the 5.5 mile section from Poplar Ridge Lean-to to Lone Mtn., if attroll's information above is correct.

[Turtle Feet]

Spaulding Lean-to to ME 27 is 13.5 miles, including a very difficult descent off of Sugarloaf, and a difficult ascent over the Crockers. It seems unlikely to me that a 7-8 mile hiker staying at Spaulding Lean-to would have arrived on Tuesday. Remember, it took her 10 hours to do the 5.5 mile section from Poplar Ridge Lean-to to Lone Mtn., if attroll's information above is correct.

Hmmm... I get what you're saying.

I can't put myself in Gerry's head, but I still don't think I'd be trying to get creative in the middle of the Maine wilderness. I would have hiked on to Spaulding. Told the other hikers there that night that my husband would be waiting for me at M 27 on Tues., and that if they got to the road before me (which virtually all of them would have) and they saw an older man waiting in the parking lot, to please let him know I'm on my way - that I may or may not make it before dark, and if not, that I'd be there Wednesday.

Of course, we know that's not what happened.

[Sly]

Why would the last cell phone ping be at 3pm and then nothing else?

[Hill Ape]

@sly battery died, or got wet, got crushed under foot, sim card removed, just a few possibilities. i can think of others, none pleasant to consider the implications

[joshuasdad]

Why would the last cell phone ping be at 3pm and then nothing else?

If I am not careful with my smartphone, I can lose charge in a few hours. Searching for nonexistent towers can consume a lot of battery power, as well as staying in "map"/GPS mode. On Monday night, just leaving the phone on as an alarm (so I could wake up at 5 am) drained most of the power--luckily I had a backup battery. If I am low on battery power, I put my phone in "sleep" mode, which would not provide any pings.

Inchworm at that point was on the trail for 2 days. I took a record number of pictures with my phone on Saddleback etc., and she might have as well. I can easily see her draining her battery.

[sliderule]

Remember, it took her 10 hours to do the 5.5 mile section from Poplar Ridge Lean-to to Lone Mtn., if attroll's information above is correct.

Departed Poplar Ridge LT at 0715. Observed at Lone Mtn (vicinity) at 1500.

10 hours?

[Sly]

Inchworm at that point was on the trail for 2 days. I took a record number of pictures with my phone on Saddleback etc., and she might have as well. I can easily see her draining her battery.

I wonder what the history of her cellphone habits and usage was. If her phone was prone to dying in two days and if that's the case why wasn't it shut off.

[Sly]

Departed Poplar Ridge LT at 0715. Observed at Lone Mtn (vicinity) at 1500.

10 hours?

Agreed. If she became injured why just a ping from Lone Mnt and not a text?

[joshuasdad]

I wonder what the history of her cellphone habits and usage was. If her phone was prone to dying in two days and if that's the case why wasn't it shut off.

One scenario: Text from Poplar Ridge at 7:15 am to provide husband with update (you can see the Sugarloaf tower from there), stick phone back into pack without turning off properly, no signal until Lone Mtn. because you are in a notch, but you burned almost all of your battery power looking for a signal. Take out phone near viewpoint between Spaulding Mtn. Lean-to and Lone Mtn. to take picture, and realize that your phone is dead.

I have also jostled my phone, accidently taking it out of sleep mode (and about cooked it by keeping it in a dry bag).

[Turtle Feet]

One scenario: Text from Poplar Ridge at 7:15 am to provide husband with update (you can see the Sugarloaf tower from there), stick phone back into pack without turning off properly, no signal until Lone Mtn. because you are in a notch, but you burned almost all of your battery power looking for a signal. Take out phone near viewpoint between Spaulding Mtn. Lean-to and Lone Mtn. to take picture, and realize that your phone is dead.

Having a dead cellphone battery - another excellent reason to stay on the AT where there are others to help you get a message out to your hubby.

[Driver8]

As to the "bailing out". Why? She was so close to the Spaulding shelter! If she didn't feel well, had maybe injured herself, why not go to a place that's close, relatively easy to hike to, near other people - especially people she may know, "safe". Why venture off into the wilderness. I'm an older female hiker myself. Never in a million years would I have ventured off the well-worn AT, alone, at the end of a hiking day.

This points to the possibility that she became disoriented, perhaps due to medical event. Some combination of her cell phone battery running out and her wandering off trail with a medical crisis that caused her to behave "irrationally" is a real possibility.

The fact that no artifacts of her have been found could mean several things. Two of these are 1) the medical crisis/wander off trail scenario, where she is lost in some nook or cranny of the woods, all of her stuff is still with her, and hasn't been found, and 2) the abduction scenario. If 1), she could easily have gone in any direction, even SOBO for a bit and off a side trail, maybe towards the military reservation to the NW of the corridor. She might've gone a half mile south on the A.T., then taken a right or a left on some herd path or old woods road, or something along those lines.

Do we know if the searchers checked the area between Lone Mtn and the Poplar Ridge Campsite? I imagine they must have. Frustrating.

[attroll]

I wonder what the history of her cellphone habits and usage was. If her phone was prone to dying in two days and if that's the case why wasn't it shut off.

I was told be her friends that she kept her cell phone off except when she used it and then she would turn it off again. My guess is that she probably turn her cell phone on at Lone Mtn to check for text messages and then turned it back off. That is just my assumption. This would explain the last ping.

[The Greenman]

MANY posts here ...following along like everyone else, while wishing beyond hope for a happy ending. There are some of you "here" with outstanding first hand information, and others with just as valuable personal experience/knowledge of the area in concern. The banter alone sounds like it would be very useful to any professional SAR operation(!) hopefully they are stopping in here on WB for some possible direction, because at least publically, they appear to have run out of ideas.

[Just Jack]

Just a suggestion-- what if-- she walked off trail to go to the bathroom--finished her business--then instead of
walking back to the at, she became confused and actually walked away from the at?

[joshuasdad]

Can someone confirm that the Fire Warden Trail, as well as the trailhead road(s) were searched, and if so, with how much detail?

Bumping my question from earlier today, as I have received no response. I do not believe that the Fire Warden trail was in the original search area, and may not have been fully covered the search last weekend.

See http://www.dailybulldog.com/db/featu...t-hiker-today/

[JustaTouron]

Just a suggestion-- what if-- she walked off trail to go to the bathroom--finished her business--then instead of
walking back to the at, she became confused and actually walked away from the at?

That is actually quite possible. Females tend to travel further away from the trail for privacy than males. I had a problem with my own daughter going so far away she would have trouble finding her way back. Fortunately we came up with a solution that solved her need for privacy and my need not to lose her. My sons OTOH barely travel far enough to avoid having the puddle actually be on the trail.

[Ground Control]

interactive map released today from Kennebec Journal: http://www.kjonline.com/Interactive_...ne_Largay.html Perhaps the search area map picture on slide 9, if enlarged, might answer your question about the search area, joshuasdad?