Gina Chase went camping with an organization that recommended participants fast and discouraged cellphones during a spiritual retreat, the authorities said.

https://archive.ph/Ty0Ye#selection-815.0-909.69

A Canadian woman was rescued over the weekend after she got lost in the Colorado mountains for four days as part of a guided spiritual “quest,” according to a local sheriff’s department, which said that participants had been encouraged to fast and discouraged from bringing cellphones.
The woman, Gina Chase, 53, of Victoria, British Columbia, was camping near the San Miguel Mountains of Colorado with 10 others through the Animas Valley Institute, an organization based in Durango, Colo., that emphasizes the spiritual value of being alone in nature, the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post. Around 11 a.m. on Aug. 14, Ms. Chase embarked on a “solo journey” near Lone Cone Peak but was reported missing around 2 p.m. the next day after she did not return to camp, the sheriff’s office said.

On Saturday, after a multiday search that included K9 teams, aircrafts and drones, Ms. Chase was found “alive and uninjured,” officials said.
“Ms. Chase was part of a group of campers who, by design, set off alone into the backcountry without their cellphones and then fasting ‘to maximize their experience with nature,’” the authorities said in their post.

On Facebook, the Animas Valley Institute sought to clarify that it “is not a ‘spiritual camp,’” that “fasting is always optional and health-dependent,” that participants are required to carry a “signaling device” and that the group “will be initiating a thorough review of this incident that will include independent expertise.”
Animas did not respond to specific questions about the program that Ms. Chase was on, including whether there was fasting, and instead referred to its Facebook post.

“You should always bring technology for communications,” Sheriff Bill Masters said in his office’s Facebook post. “Furthermore you should not starve yourself even if a ‘guide’ service suggests the opposite of these basic safety rules.”

In a statement on its website, Animas thanked emergency groups for helping find Ms. Chase and added that the group “has run backcountry programs in Colorado since 1980 with no serious incidents.”
According to the sheriff’s office, Ms. Chase embarked on her solo journey on Wednesday with a day pack that contained “an emergency blanket, a whistle, a power bar, and some water.”

On the outing, campers used a buddy system to verify that each person had made it back to their campsite periodically, the sheriff’s office said. Ms. Chase’s buddy noticed on Thursday she had not returned, the authorities said.

A “quest,” as Animas calls its overnight journeys, typically costs $1,800 to $3,000, although the description for the specific journey Ms. Chase embarked on is no longer on its website.
Ms. Chase declined to comment.

“The Animas Quest catalyzes the encounter with soul by temporarily displacing everyday consciousness through five primary means,” the website says, listing solitude, fasting, exposure to nature, ceremonies and “soulcraft.”

In recent years, outdoor therapy has become a popular form of tourism. Some other organizations have even promoted spirituality through drug use, leading to retreats that can cost $5,000 to $10,000 for seven days.

Apparently there is more to this story, according to a person claiming to be part of the search.

But hard to see how going solo with no communication devices is ever sound, unless you don't want to come back.

Maybe. For the entire time I did solo backpacking in the Rockies, electronic signalling devices were not available. I was therefore prepared to spend a period of time awaiting rescue, and there were rock solid people who would report to park staff if I did not check in on schedule.

Edit: It's a fair comment. I were doing it now, I would certainly look at the options available, as long as they were completely non-invasive as I pursue my immersive walking meditation. Zero tolerance for a cell phone bleeping nonsense.