She practiced what we preach.

Missing hiker survives...

SAR response was fairly quick, methinks maybe too fast. Still, better safe than sorry I suppose.

Just another example how a simple mistake leads to an extreme situation, though in this case well abated. Too bad she didn't bother to check her route at the start. I bet she will from now on. I bet she also starts packing some sort of signalling device as well. A simple GPS and an FRS portable radio would've got her out of the woods the night before, if not avoided the situation altogether. Another good example of what to pack as a minimum.

Good to hear the positive outcome. It could easily have gone much worse.

SAR was right on schedule imho - she sounds very reliable, her roommate reported her overdue. You can't take any time out to wait to see what happens, not with the number of wackos running around out there.

The video at the URL is a great 8 minute object lesson for Scouts and anyone who hikes - what went wrong, what she did in response, what went right. She travelled with a bivvy/hammock, which was great, and what has been discussed in this forum as something good to have Just In Case, it made for a more comfortable night. She didn't have a watch, or a signalling device (whistle), or a match or lighter - basic essentials. I bet she doesn't leave a trailhead ever again without them. She wasn't out there walking unprepared though, she had the goods to spend the night.

Good going, she kept her head, didn't panic, and she had a plan for rescue. She was after all only 10 miles from a trail head, although in wet and cold that can be enough to go the other way. A textbook, good weather dayhike self-rescue.

SAR was probably faster out looking because of the cold. A broken ankle in sub-freezing temps can be a death sentence.

Funny that she didn't have some firemaking and signaling stuff with her, though. I would have taken those before the hammock.

Pretty good job and mindset, though, once she did realize she was lost.

Sue

Agree. If you're equipped for a night out it's not an emergency, it's an adventure. All she needs to add is 1/2 oz of fire making kit and a small signal mirror (if she could see the helo's, they could have seen the flash).

Dangerous to hike alone.

Glad she's OK.

Agreed.

R.S. Kit + poncho and cold/wet weather gear.

I have been doing solo hikes for too many years to count and can name 50 different outdoor activities that are more dangerous then hiking alone.

While hiking alone, you need to be prepared, mentally, physically and gear wise. If you meet and continuously follow all three of these requirements, it is a pretty safe activity in my view...

That's a happy ending.

Thanks for the link!

I have to admit, a bivvy is one thing I'm missing and should add to my short hike PSK. I usually think about the ability to start a fire when I ponder a situation like the hiker faced. I also think in terms of building a debris shelter, but stuffing leaves into a bivvy is certainly more expedient.

I guess I could roll myself up like a burrito into my heatsheet with some leaves as added insulation. lol

Are you a woman?