#203832 - 06/23/10 02:20 PM
Stranded Woman Survives 11 Days in Rockies
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Old Hand
Registered: 02/05/10
Posts: 776
Loc: Northern IL
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link A few tidbits will give you the gist of what went wrong. A Colorado woman who took a day trip to the Rocky Mountains to clear her head ended up spending 11 days in the wilderness with no food, medicine or shoes.
Kelly Guzman, 45, of Denver was expected to be released from a hospital today after treatment for frostbite and hypothermia. When found by searchers Sunday in the Arapahoe National Forest, she was barefoot and wearing only shorts and a fleece top. Guzman's bad luck began on June 8, when she was cited for driving under the influence of drugs. Ashford said his wife, who uses medical marijuana, retrieved her vehicle the next day, then said she wanted to go away to clear her head. Johnson said the road was built up about four feet higher than the creek. "For some reason she drove right into it," he said, speculating that Guzman was driving at night and couldn't properly see the road. He is being nice and not saying what everyone reading the story is going to know really happened. "All she had to do was backtrack out, but sitting for three days with no food, drinking only stream water, she was disoriented," Ashford said. "She kept thinking she would see a house or cabin. She would get sidetracked. " I guess if there is a moral to this story is that driving under the influence of pot can get you into deep trouble, just as driving under the influence of alcohol can, or hiking under the influence for that matter.
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Warning - I am not an expert on anything having to do with this forum, but that won't stop me from saying what I think. ![smile smile](/images/graemlins/default/smile.gif) Bob
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#203837 - 06/23/10 04:59 PM
Re: Stranded Woman Survives 11 Days in Rockies
[Re: ILBob]
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Member
Registered: 10/19/09
Posts: 112
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I'm surprised she didn't see a Dunkin Donuts or a Krispy Kreme. That seems to be high on the request list for wake-n-bakers.
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Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands. - Jeff Cooper
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#203838 - 06/23/10 05:04 PM
Re: Stranded Woman Survives 11 Days in Rockies
[Re: ajax]
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Old Hand
Registered: 08/10/06
Posts: 882
Loc: Colorado
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I guess it says that the margin for survival even if you don't do anything right is bigger than we tend to think.
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#203843 - 06/23/10 07:22 PM
Re: Stranded Woman Survives 11 Days in Rockies
[Re: ILBob]
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Old Hand
Registered: 04/16/03
Posts: 1076
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I hear AMK is working on miniaturizing this critical piece of survival gear so it can fit in an Altoids tin...
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#203845 - 06/23/10 07:44 PM
Re: Stranded Woman Survives 11 Days in Rockies
[Re: Glock-A-Roo]
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Old Hand
Registered: 03/03/09
Posts: 745
Loc: NC
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Dudes, like yanno, lighten up on her. Like wow man, yanno so ok, she is into urban stuff and the woods isn't her thing, yanno. So like, she got her head in a bad place and was all freaked out yanno, like wow, she was flat tripping and seeing stuff, yanno. So like none of yas have ever had a bad day, or a string of them. Yanno, cut her some slack. Sounds like she was prepared though, prolly had her stash with her to keep her head mellow while she waited for rescue. But like wow, wonder if she ate or smoked her shoes man? Also, sounds like she has the ADHD or something, yanno, as she kept getting sidetracked. Just because she has a rectal/cranial inversion doesn't mean she is bad people.
So lighten up on her, or something.
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#203849 - 06/23/10 07:55 PM
Re: Stranded Woman Survives 11 Days in Rockies
[Re: haertig]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 03/08/07
Posts: 2208
Loc: Beer&Cheese country
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The Denver Post was saying something similar to "...her lack of medication caused some confusion and played a role..." So what happened? She got un-stoned and didn't know what to do with herself? I was kind of wondering why she didn't just follow the road she drove up on instead of leaving her gear (and shoes) in the car and wandering around for 11 days. This "medication" revelation pretty much explains it. The paper also said she was asked if she ran into a bear, and she replied "I had more important things to worry about." She probably meant, "Where in the hell is the nearest place I can score some weed?"
Wreck your first car (I wonder what caused that?), smoke some more weed, wreck your other car (I wonder what caused that?), then wander around for 11 days (I wonder what caused that?) LOL Most of these types of thoughts went through my head too. I like how her medical conditions weren't really mentioned, or her medications that she apparently needed. Think she smoked her shoes?
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#203854 - 06/23/10 11:13 PM
Re: Stranded Woman Survives 11 Days in Rockies
[Re: MDinana]
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Geezer
Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
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Yaaaaawwwwwnnnnnn.... Who cares?
It sounds like she was on something stronger than a little medical pot.
Sue
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#203857 - 06/23/10 11:41 PM
Re: Stranded Woman Survives 11 Days in Rockies
[Re: Susan]
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Geezer in Chief
Geezer
Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
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What I find particularly odd is that she had so little in her car. I always have a big pot in my vehicle, not just a little pot....
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#203869 - 06/24/10 03:20 AM
Re: Stranded Woman Survives 11 Days in Rockies
[Re: hikermor]
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Addict
Registered: 07/18/07
Posts: 665
Loc: Northwest Florida
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I seriously doubt her medical marijuana use played a very large role in her story, and I wouldn't make too much of it, or assume that it, alone, explains what happened. Even chronic marijuana abuse just isn't all that debilitating. But other medical conditions, or medications she reportedly may have run out of, may have been contributory factors.
Also, she was reportedly an "avid outdoorswoman," but just not planning on going for a hike, and she only had one crash, not two. We don't know why that happened. But hers was not the first car to end up in a ditch for no obvious reason.
She had apparently just been arrested for DUI of drugs, which can also include prescription or OTC medications other than marijuana. We just had a vehicular homicide conviction reversed that was premised on nothing more than a minuscule trace amount of prescription Xanax in the driver's blood. So it can happen unexpectedly to people being treated for legitimate medical problems, too, not just drunks and stoners. I know of DUI convictions based on OTC cold medications alone. Lots of substances have sedative effects.
Things like chronic pain syndromes, diabetes, depression, and other medical conditions, as well as the medications used to treat them, can cause sudden, unexpected, and very debilitating effects or side effects. Patients can experience confusion, blackouts, hallucinations or even psychotic episodes, especially under the added stress of a DUI arrest and possible conviction.
The DUI probably was caused by medical marijuana. Her crash and subsequent seemingly bizarre behavior probably was not. I'm guessing she either screwed up or missed her meds, was pretty stressed out by her DUI (wouldn't you be?) and maybe had an exacerbation of some medical condition, or even a half-hearted notion of suicide, and suffered a bit of mental disconnect in a setting where no help was at hand.
I'm glad she's alive, and I'm not ready to be too hard on her, at least not until we hear more of the story.
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