The Most Disturbing Photo in Appalachian Trail History
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- Geraldine Largay died after getting lost off the Appalachian Trail in 2013.
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As soon as you realize you are lost, what you want to do is mark the place you are. Then walk 100 yards in one direction keeping track of that place. If you find nothing walk back to the original spot and walked 100 yards in the other direction. Again if you find nothing go back to the original spot. Do this in four directions if necessary . If you still find nothing go 200 yards in all four directions if necessary , always come back to the same spot until you find something. I’ve had to use this technique A couple of times. Very grateful that someone told it to me.
Very helpful 👍🏼
Great idea, thank you for sharing!
My gym teacher in 1st grade told us the same thing. He used to take us on nature hikes in the woods in the back of our school and would tell us stories about his hikes through the Appalachian mountains (he was born in Virginia in 1912). He told us that if you're ever hiking and end up somewhere in the woods that is completely silent to leave immediately before the "wildmen" get you. He was from a very rough era in history and wouldn't joke about something like that. RIP Mr. Carter you taught me a lot about the wilderness.
Thank you for sharing
Thank you
I have worked in the woods in the subject area my whole life as a land surveyor. Many people can't understand how she got lost. That is because they have never gotten lost. I have become disoriented in the woods and believe me, it can happen to the most experienced woodsman.
The part I can't understand is how the search parties never found her. Hopefully the Maine Warden Service did a lot of soul searching and revamped their methods, procedures, and egos.
As someone who loves hiking and the outdoors and also directionally challenged like Gerry I’ve left the trail and turned back to be be like ??? I always use GPS but it’s definitely scary!
I always go with a satielle phone or areas with cell service
This and many trails in any woods can be easy to get lost in. maine i am about 20mins from this area and i have been lost in the woods 3 times in my life. It isnt hard at all when the sec you go off trail or for that matter even some trails all look alike woods woods woods. I will always love Maine though.
She was so close to the trail they probably thought she was just another person camping.
Any serious hiker with an IQ over 80 carries a compass. I guess we know where Geraldine was on the Bell Curve.
Gerry was NOT found by a govt. surveyor. Her remains were found by a hiker (trail name "Starfly") and his friend. Starfly went hiking on the AT in October of 2015 to enjoy the fall foliage and also to look for Gerry. He and his friend found her remains and her campsite. They notified the warden service and included the GPS location. They didn't hear back - and then lo and behold - the warden service claimed that this unnamed contractor "found" Gerry. There was a reward. Starfly wanted the reward to go toward a shelter to be named for Gerry. I don't understand why the authorities found it necessary to lie and not give credit to the people who actually searched and found her.
Probably because they go by the name "Starfly" rather than an actual, legal name.
Search and rescue will yell names. That is really odd she didnt respond if they got so close. I wonder if she had a hearing aid that died or something? Also you failed to mention the weather. If it had been raining i could see how the dogs wouldnt be able to pick up her smell, there would be little trace, and maybe she was too cold to respond.
This is why leave no trace is bs too. Respectfully there is no such thing and we need to leave some trace otherwise we wont be found in survival situations. Respect necture and stay alive yall 🙏🏻
whats up starflys friend
The person who originally found her should prove that he found her with the GPS at a time it was sent. Then they should go and claim their money and if they have a problem, they should go get a lawyer.
just leave it to the Gov . to screw it up!
When I was 12 years old, I got lost in the Woods exploring a new area. I was standing in a small creek, bed with a noticeable unique boulder when I realized I was absolutely lost. So I decided to hike in a straight line to approximately where I thought I began the hike at the edge of a road. But about an hour and a half later, I realized I had arrived back at the creek bed with that noticeable unique Boulder. Holy shit! That's when I super freaked out. Begin to hyperventilate. Turned in circles about 20 times this time, turned into the opposite direction and took off on the fastest sprint of my life. This time, rather than looking at the trees in front of me, I tried to keep my eyes on the horizon above the trees, where there is an outline of a cloud this allowed me to keep my bearing a little bit better. Fortunately, 30 minutes later, completely worn out I popped out onto the road. I didn't know. Should I turn left or right? I decided to turn left and 100 yards down the road everything was recognizable.
Whew!!!! Scary shit man.
Even I felt panicked reading your experience.
Thats why they tell you to stay put , ppl walk in circles due to the rotation of the earth... we were always taught, remember to break branches/mark branches on one side and remember if its your right or your left, always carry an emergency tin, we would use small coffee tins, with fish line, needles, waterproofed matches, band aids, etx u can use the tin to boil water, fishing line to fish etc
@@janicehagen2854the earth is flat and motionless.
@@nowaythatnamewastaknyour brain seems to be flat and motionless
This is so heartbreaking and you can tell just by the pictures of her that she was full of life and a great person..Her smile is so genuine in each picture and it hurts me to the core that such a sweet soul had to end so tragically..RIP Geraldine
I feel a need to vent here. This one has personal meaning for me.
My family was deeply concerned when this story hit the news, since I'm nearly the age that Inchworm was when she went missing, and because of our family history. My step-grandfather went missing on a Catskills hike, and nobody - despite an intensive effort over months by hundreds of searchers - ever learnt what happened to him. He'd left behind a wife and two little kids, one of whom grew to to become my stepfather.
"If you get lost, stay put and wait for rescue. Try to signal if you can." is the only advice that far too many of us get. It's fine advice for eleven-year-old boy scouts. They're probably two hundred yards from a campground! It's only a starting point - and nobody should be hiking solo with just that advice. (Of course, the eleven-year-old boy scouts are also taught "never hike alone!" while many grown-ups do hike solo. It's irresponsible to grow beyond only part of that advice.
Some specific observations about the Inchworm mystery:
200 yards from a trail is a long way in dense forest, really. If memory serves, Inchworm was somewhat hard of hearing, and voices carry surprisingly badly in dense undergrowth. Carry a whistle - mine happens to be built into the sternum buckle of my pack. If you think you hear help coming for you, you can be heard a LOT farther with a whistle than with your voice. (Aside: Don't just blast, make sure they know it's a human sound. "Shave and a haircut" isn't a bad bet.) Also, someone among the rescuers likely has a whistle and can whistle back.
Carry a compass and learn how to sight with it. Even if you don't know how to do anything else with it, if you can hold a more or less consistent straight line, you can get _somewhere_ rather than wandering in circles.
"Just use the GPS" is not an option, when your GPS has a dead battery. Learn map-and-compass navigation skills. (If you're around Eastern New York or adjacent New England. I'm willing go go out hiking with anyone trying to learn this stuff - and I'm competent enough to lead bushwhacks to places I've never been, so drop me a line. I live a little north and west of Albany.)
Along with that, learn the basics of what to do if you lose both your map and your way. That differs according to conditions, but a good rule of thumb in the Eastern US is: go DOWN. Down goes to water. Once you have hit water, go DOWNSTREAM. Downstream goes to civilization. In the Eastern US, that's just about 100% guaranteed: down goes to water, downstream there's a road. If you hit level ground and aren't sure which way 'down' continues, whip out your you-know-what, oops, I mean compass, and just start tracking in line with the way you were going until the slope becomes obvious again.
In the higher mountains you might cliff out. If you were on trail, that's not entirely bad news. (Of course, don't ever go down anything you're not sure you can't get back up! Climb back up to where you can move sideways, and start circling the band of ledges. You'll eventually 1cross either the trail you were on or another trail. Once you've found a trail, abandoned logging road, whatever, stick with it. It goes somewhere. Downhill is usually a better guess than up, since you're trying to get out of the mountains.
It's a good idea to review the map at the start of a day's hiking and plan escape routes that you can follow even if your map comes to grief. Something general and simple to remember like, "there's a river a mile or two to the north, and a highway bridge downstream". If you're leading a group, make that a part of your safety briefing.
If you do start traveling in order to get unlost, it's a good idea to have a notebook along. (I carry a 3x5 inch waterproof notebook. Since I photograph and write and map, I use it for field notes anyway.) Start taking notes about what you see - especially back over your shoulder - along with the time of day, so you have something to help you if you need to backtrack.
If I'm hiking solo, I carry a PLB. Not a satellite communicator like a SPOT or InReach, an actual Personal Locator Beacon registered with the Federal government. It gets sent off for inspection and battery replacement at the recommended intervals. I'm pretty certain that if I light it, I'm going to be found. I carry it not so much to protect myself as to protect the emergency responders. If I buy the farm on a hike, well, it's not that many years until my time is coming anyway. But nobody should have to put their arses on the line looking for me. If they have a GPS squawk, a radio signal, and a strobe light, all telling them where I am, that should take nearly all the Search out of Search&Rescue, and Search is the difficult, expensive and dangerous part of the mission. It'll take a lot to make me light it, though. I've hobbled out fifteen miles on a sprained knee because I'm not going to call in the troops while I can still travel at all.
None of this advicce would have safed my step-grandfather, I suspect. From the terrain he was bushwhacking in and the time of year he was going, I suspect that he triggered a rock slide and wound up buried. But many individual bits of it might have saved Inchworm.
Hey, thanks for sharing your family story and the tips on how to recover if lost!
I hike alone a lot in the Whites of NH and I have never really been lost because I have been on a trail. I have missed a turn and ended up on the wrong trail headed in the wrong direction. The first time it happened I was scared $h!tless and just about ran back to where I last new where I was. I had to keep talking to myself and reminding myself that I had plenty of daylight and that I was on a trail so I wasn't totally lost. Once I found what I thought was the trail, I asked a couple that was on the trail what it was to make sure that I didn't go in the wrong direction again. When I got to the car I was only 15 minutes passed the time I wanted to be back at the car. I try to hit the trail at an ungodly hour for two reasons, 1, so I can get a parking spot so I don't have to walk forever to get to the trailhead and 2 so that I have time to recover from a mistake.
Knowing how to do systematic reverse search probes to find familiar turf is something everyone should spend 30 minutes of their time learning basics for.
Great advice. Thanks for having the patience to share. I read it entirely and is good for thought.
So sad 😢
Read the book "When you find my body". It details the sad story and has lessons for those who get lost. 100 yards in dense woods is as good as 100 miles. Dogs may not bark if they are tracking and just following their nose. Geraldine HAD a GPS and gave it to her husband to lighten he load. She was planning only to be separated for a half day. She had a terrible sense of direction.
She sealed her fate when she did that because she had not the skills to make it home
Was just about to comment that. 100yds is a football field. Imagine trying to hear or see someone clearly that distance. Now add dense trees and brush with birds and bugs making noise inbetween. There’s no chance.
She had a terrible sense of direction and went hiking???!!!???!? Without gps???
@@mrswiggles4790 you made a great ☝️
@@mrswiggles4790 EXACTLY!!! Perhaps she bumped her damn head or something, she wasn't acting right. Surely that was out of Character!! Or maybe she ate some poisonous Mushrooms or berries that made her lose her mind, hallucinate, become incapacitated in some way.
I've seen her story before, so sad to think she was that close to being rescued but instead died alone and scared. I can't imagine how it would feel losing someone that way.
so awful. I hope people can learn from her story.
I've read about her before as well, but I didn't see that 3 separate dog teams had been so close! It's just mind boggling that she wouldn't have heard them bumbling about in the woods so close by! That's just all kinds of wrong 🥺
@@musingwithreba9667she was known for her lack of survival skill. From what I’ve heard and read. Sad.
@@DemonratsRevil hard to believe the dogs didn't find her tho. SAR dogs should have sniffed her out at 100 yards. Regardless oof her skills
I
Was surprised that being military that she didn’t follow the sunrise or sunset. If she went east
Off the trail that the sunset would have let her back. And I would have set the woods on fire. I am so heartbroken that she and her family had to endure this.
A friend and I went on a nighttime/sunrise hike once. It was a very popular hike. But Neither of us had ever been there. We came to the parking lot and trailhead thinking we were in the right place..we weren’t. We started on a small brush trail and followed the directions we had looked up before hand. But after about an hour or so it became very apparent we didn’t know where we were. Each time we came to a split in the trail we stopped and said a prayer and then went on the way we felt good about. About 6 hrs into the hike we should have been at the peak by then. But we could still see the mountains towering over us. After another hour the trail ended. We stepped out on to a road and began looking around.
My heart then sank into my gut. Up the road we saw a parking lot..with my car sitting there. We were so incredibly confused but grateful. But it was an eerie surreal feeling. We had hit about 10 different forks in the trails we were in. And came right back to where we started. We were 100% led by the spirit not knowing where we were being led.
God is amazing... wow praise God!!!!
Praise God for that 🙏
If you were on a trail why didn’t you just turn around and go back the way you came??
Or...you just got lucky
@@veritasabsoluta4285 definitely not lucky
Her trail name was ‘Inchworm’ because she made slow but steady progress. Apparently, not only did she give her GPS to her husband (foolish thing to do) but the compass she had was the size of a watch face…..a small one.
I honestly believe Gerry was suffering some kind of dementia and she panicked when she became lost. Poor lady. But she obviously kept SOME wits about her to write her journal.
I hope her passing was as peaceful as it could be for her.
As someone else mentioned, a simple UTI infection, pretty common as age encroaches, would lead to the kind of confusion that's hard to spot definitively both from an objective viewpoint, but also subjectively. At home, a couple of weird decisions and you'd be off to the doctor for some antibiotics. Wandering off trail to spend a penny, getting lost,... and staying put in a tent may well have been her only option.
I'm 41 and in 2019 became encephalitic and no one could figure out that a bad UTI that was asymptomatic was the source. I tried to escape my hospital room because I thought my husband hired a hospital looking place to kill me. I ripped all of my IVs out of my arm. Also, when my grandma was in an elder care facility they would call my dad saying things like, "your mother thinks there's two soldiers in her closet with a bomb". Dad would say, "have you checked to see if she has a UTI?".
She is proof that old folks should hike in pairs.
@@user-co8uy5rb2s everyone should hike in pairs!!
My gosh even the dogs couldn't find her. How scared she must've been. This hurts my heart.
It seems incredible that three different teams of dogs were within 100 yards of her and didn't have her scent. This just seems to be one of those situations where absolutely nothing goes right. I can't even imagine the fear of knowing you're going to die and can do nothing to stop it.
Murphys Law is a bitch
If the dogs were upwind, they would have had zero scent to track. Pretty simple. Human scent (epithelial cells discarded off the human body as we move) break down fairly quickly in static, dry environments. Introduce humidity and air currents, and the cells dispurse and break down even faster. Now put an odor detection dog upwind of the source of odor and you have a 0% chance of an alert (a good find).
In my personal and professional opinion, the dog handlers should have been conducting their search to meet the downwind flank and adjusting it as the conditions changed. But even that isn't a 100% guarantee. No dog, including my own K9, is 100% all the time just like no human searcher is 100% all the time.
@@scout3058 I’ve worked with law enforcement dogs and actually with a trained trailing dog, such as a bloodhound, it tracks the scent on the ground where the individual has walked. I’m not saying that the dog couldn’t pick up an airborne scent, but that’s not how the dog usually works. Start at the last place she was seen and go from there. You need a personal item to ‘scent the dog’ and I assume the husband would have such. Wooded areas, unlike urban areas, are actually better at holding the scent. It’s heartbreaking that she wasn’t found.
@Glass Half Full I'm a professional K9 handler and trainer with specialized study in odor science/scent theory. Please don't think that I am some shade tree hack making guesses. For instance, if you know as much as you think you do, you'll be able to tell me at what speed human skin cells leave the body and travel upwards, out of the collar of a shirt or jacket. I don't expect you to answer, at least not without Googling it. I can answer it for you: 18mph. I know the math on how fast human skin cells degrade in 85°, 90% humidity conditions and that doesn't factor in air movement/currents. Can you name 3 household items that a bomb dog can alert on because those items share certain chemicals that are present in certain explosives? I can.
I appreciate your attempt at looking for other solutions but in this regard I am a subject matter expert among my peers. If you can tell me what a downwind flank even is without resorting to Google (I'll have to count on you being honorable) then I'll gladly give you a way to privately kessage me so we can discuss your disagreement civily.
@@scout3058 Sorry I hurt your feelings, but I’ve worked with law enforcement dogs for 30+ years and the proper dog for this particular case would have been the bloodhound for the reasons BOTH of us mentioned. I’ve also seen numerous “certified” dogs, both police and volunteer, fail in both training and unfortunately in actual investigations. A few months ago I led volunteer in a search for a man that was believed to have committed suicide in a brushy area. Law enforcement, with multiple teams of dogs, had already cleared the most promising area and we continued in other areas. One guess where the body was found. Anyway, I applaud your vast knowledge, but dogs are not a perfect tool. Though I have worked with amazing dogs, but as I tell law enforcement officers I train, “When the dogs learn to speak English, then I’ll have a little more faith in them.”
I live in New Hampshire and remembered when this happened. I also watched on North Woods Law, chronicles of her disappearance ,search and discovery of her remains. It was heartbreaking. There were so many things that could of prevented her demise. Not solo hiking, having a compass, map,whistle. I do a lot of hiking in the White Mountains, but I am not a through hiker. I am also a nurse,and people of her age can have medical emergencies that people younger can shake off. Dehydration or a simple UTI can cause mental confusion. I don't think she should of been out there alone .Solitude can be nice but not on a hike. I'm sorry I rambled on so. Thanks Kyle for revisiting her story. Hello from New Hampshire 🌲
I went solo snow hiking last year and somehow got off trail although I do a lot of solo hiking. I was lost for about a half hour until I came across some other hikers. I can say that is one of the scariest feelings for sure!
i know the feeling. i got lost in the grocery store last week. felt like i was just walking in circles for hours.
i once got lost on some railroads that were under construction and..... that was the scariest moment of my life tbh
If you have kid's that was selfish & foolish
@@walterb3946is this a wkuk joke?
One time my wife and I took a were going down Blood Mountain, which is part of the Appalachian Trail, but we were just hiking the mountain. She likes to (still) cut straight down the mountain, or up, instead of zig zagging the trail. We cut down and sure enough came to a ledge, and it was an impossibly steep assent. We start B-lining along the ledge but there was no trail, so we had to start ascending. We hiked for only about 15 min and finally saw people!
People don't realize, it freaks you out. This is a mountain I've through-hiked and regularly hike. Weird how rationality starts to escape, but ultimately it becomes an endurance issue, just keep pushing, try to stay rational, and have some luck.
Someone mentioned they were a surveyor. I did it for a bit too. One thing we carried was “flagging” tape. It’s just rolls of biodegradable streamer flagging. Pro tip. Carry a roll with you and leave yourself a bread crumbs. You’re not adding any weight. Better safe than sorry. Also, really learn land navigation, know how to shoot azimuths, carry a map, learn to use a compass. Stop relying on apps and phones. I was a scout in the Army for 7 years. I promise your equipment will fail. We always reverted to maps and compasses.
People's decision making tends to get super poor once they're put in a scary situation... a guy from my outdoor class got lost so we did a grid pattern search for him after dark. After getting lost he had wandered to an empty/closed campground not far from our camping location, and we're sure he heard our voices, but instead of staying in relative safety he admitted he fled and ran down the road in a random direction. Luckily, he was found by one of our cars that were honking down the FS trails.
He doesn't know why he didn't yell back or stayed at the campground. He just panicked and was scared, all rational thought disappeared.
Additional advice: if you are lost in the mountains in Japan, NEVER follow running water downstream. Mountain build/river systems are different here. Most rivers lead to waterfalls, steep cliffs, treacherous terrain. It is virtually impossible to find villages etc., much less climb the whole way down safely. Instead, if you are truly lost, it is advised that you climb to the peak or mountain ridge. Mountain range formation around here generally lends to clear views from the peaks and ridges. Consult the map and use your compass. Try to find the trail. I know this is also true in Taiwan (at least the don’t follow rivers part), so perhaps other East Asian/southeast Asian mountains have the same thing? Of course, best action is to do everything you can to NOT get lost…and if rescue is plausible (people know that you are in the mountain, you have gps, etc.) don’t move. Also, be prepared for anything! Safe hiking and mountaineering!
Great advice 👍
not moving is how she died and people wore looking for her, the smart thing to do is mark where you are and move a few 100 yards in one direction if you find nothing come back to your starting place and so on, if you find nothing start the process over with 200 yards and so on. If someone find's the place you've marked they'll know to wait for you or find you or you and them will eventually bump into one another.
Good Advice to not follow downstream. Once you realized you’re loss. Backtrack and use intentionally straight path and try to find familiar marks. Never distance hike alone. Have a buddy.
OK, next time I'm lost in the Mountains in Japan, I'll keep that in mind.
Also, that whole following a stream downriver to find your way out is nonsense.. it's been disproven so many times as an effective method for escape.
Same in Indonesia, rivers in the mountain always lead to either waterfall or a ravine
On the Colorado Trail I stepped out in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. No jacket, no GPS, no survival gear, but I did have a flashlight. I got turned around and couldn’t find my tent for what seemed like forever - even with my flashlight. It’s easy to get lost and I feel so bad for this lady and her family.
Yes. I once went hiking. Was the second time in this area. Forst time I found a nice Spot in the Forest, so sexond time I wanted to go there. Of course I didn't found it. And then I didn't know where I've had come from. I panicked for 1 min. Then took a breath And try to remember trees and branches and got out. That was scary
The air search also got fucked up because a couple hikers said they saw “an older woman with glasses” at the next shelter- the search team assumed they must have seen Gerry, and therefore focused the helicopters toward a different area.
Such a sad story, my heart really goes out to all involved ❤
That's the second time, after watching a number of these videos, that a search got waylaid because "witnesses" said they saw the lost person somewhere else.
Why do search parties put so much credence into such supposed sightings?
So many times people fuck up the search with bad details.
@@jeanjazThey could have seen her before she moved
her tent was also put up under a fallen tree.
I remember when this lady went missing. She had a terrible sense of direction. When her friend left the trail to go home, her husband and friend were very concerned for Geraldine alone on the trail. But to give her GPS to her husband and to not have a compass is just not wise. And if you have ever been in the woods in New Hampshire or Maine, the trees are dense, with underbrush, birds and insects that absorb any sound. 100 yards might as well be on the other side of the moon. It all comes down to the choice she made to continue solo.
💔
I think more hikers need to improve their decision making approach
She also had already hiked 1000 miles of the AT. So I don’t think her sense of direction was all that bad?
@@t.l.1610
she was known about her bad sense of direction. her husband was not that keen of her doing it. and as soon as that friend had to leave her she instantly got lost.
@@ursodermatt8809 Thanks for the info. I did some reading after your replies. Ugh what a sad story. Her friend reported she was also afraid of the dark and being alone. Poor lady. Makes it even more heartbreaking.
In middle school me and my bestfriend got lost adventuring in the NW Georgia woods. He remembered his mom teaching him that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. It helped us get a sense of direction considering we knew the sun set in front of my house and we found our way back to a road after being lost for 6 hours or so. It was scary, especially since I was scared of the dark at the time and was really worried we wouldn't get home before nightfall.
I remember when these events were happening. There were reports that from other hikers that she appeared disoriented at times prior to her getting lost. Also, I believe that there was a report of an injury discovered after her body was found, which maybe explains why she made camp and stopped. This is such a tragic story, and even though I hike alone a fair bit, it sends a strong message about how that can be a costly decision
I read a great book on Geraldine it explained quite a lot, never anything about injuries that's must be conjecture. Yes, it's a pity her death had come to pass for certain,
@@hertribe1978
yes, had she been injured she would have texted that and noted it in her note book.
I read the book, “When you find my body” it was really sad. She seemed like an amazing lady. I was like you, so confused as to why they couldn’t find her but like you said the woods in some places just swallow people up. The actual map of the ground they covered in the rescue attempt was quite extensive but all around her 😭
Fiction and trying to make money. Don’t believe everything lol
@@dustinchen???
@In A Corner show some respect to the dude profiting off her death lol. you show some respect
@In A Corner what's that got to do with showing her family respect lol.
@@dustinchen it's easy to make an insensitive comment. The world is built on consumerism as well so "trying to make money" is kinda a given. Be smarter or maybe nicer? It is about someone who died. You've shown quite a bit of disrespect in this comment but im sure you don't care lol
She had a gps tracker but left it behind. Apparently she had a compass but didn't know how to use one. I really don't think she had any business going off on her own like that. Everybody should learn from this and understand that the wilderness is unforgiving.
Not know how to use a compass??
Very important point. All the literature says although it's well marked, hikers still need a compass. In saying this, it's still very sad. I really want to do this hike but slowly going off the idea. Especially as a solo activity.
Who doesn't know how to use a compass. It's not rocket science, jesus christ.
I too loved solo hiking, but scared theses days after learning about the people accidentally falling off the mountain, getting lost, etc and dying.
@@tyham726I like solo traveling more :c Go solo hiking where you know the trail.
I had a very lovely conversation with Inchworm on the Horn of Saddleback the day before she disappeared. Sweet lively person, full of life and elan. Her shining face stays with me to this day. We headed back to our car and Inchworm headed north. A day or two later, the news was filled with pictures of Gerry and news of her disappearance. I was gutted. Shattered. We called the Wardens to report our sighting of Inchworm and waited. And waited . And waited. We even seriously considered joining the effort to find her. ……. Two years later……😢 Inchworm’s demise hit me hard. It was the beginning of the end of a lifetime wandering the mountains of New England for me. May Gerry’s spirit and light live on. 💜
I never met her but I was in new Hampshire going northbound when I heard there was a hiker who disappeared. She hadnt been missing for only a few days at that point
Oh, it’s heartbreaking that it caused you to stop going to the woods. I can understand that though.
Inchworm's tragic story breaks my heart every time I think of it. I just can't escape the feeling that some basic survival and orienteering skills, like I used to teach Boy Scouts, could have lead to a different ending. Honor her legacy by being prepared, and helping others learn the skills to avoid a similar fate.
It is shockingly easy to get lost. I once walked about 75 yards from my camp to hang my food in the dark, and in the process of getting the bag up in the tree, I lost my sense of direction. I confidently walked off in the wrong direction. I couldn't see my tent or my fire anywhere, and I got so confused since I knew my camp was close. Without my phone on me, I'm not sure I would have been able to find my camp again before daylight.
I don't go off trail, even to pee, without my compass, and I set on the compass the heading on which I left the trail, so that I can walk the back course.
Those who have never been lost will never appreciate what you just said. I too have been lost and it is exactly as you said.
@@Sadie04074 I left my tent in Shenandoah to pee, and got lost in the dark. Sat down right where I was before I could get any more lost! I spent some time sitting there in the dark before I was able to orient and find my way back.
Airtags are a great invention
So easy to lose your way especially if you go off trail anywhere. I hike Ohio - Pennsylvania - Blue ridge and the Smokies some. Mostly fishing etc. Sometimes just exploring. I've done small parts of AT. I tell you what - I am in the habit of trail marking along the way as a back up plan to just find your way back. Dragging a trail with a hiking stick. Leaving branches in the letter T formation. My name is Tom . Any way to mark like bread crumbs
This incident has long bothered me. She was so close to the AT (and the old AT path thru there). Not only did searchers miss her on their grid, but she didn’t hear any rescuers in the nearby area. So strange.
I definitely think there is something missing from this story, something she can't tell us. Did she not have a whistle? Did she not try to find her way out at all while she still had food and water. Very odd. Maybe she was doing the classic walking in circles, we'll never know, but with so many SAR if she had made noise I think they could have found her.
Yetis
She was hard of hearing
@@ashmaybe9634
There's a great book that was written "when you find my body" I forget authors name but it had explained much of all the questions here. There's really not anything more, other than the fact Gerry had basically run herself into the ground the first hours after being lost and simply pitched her tent and stayed there.
I'm guessing she may have been delerious lack of food, exposure and I'd guess if she heard them she didn't have the energy to get off the ground.
This story scares me. I did a really dumb thing and free climbed one of the rockies in BC alone back 9 years ago. It was VERY dangerous. I got to the top but shale gave out on the face and I fell 20 ft to a small ledge just before nightfall. My GPS unit wasn't working properly and the only saving grace was that I was so close to the top of the mountain on the front face. The other thing was my cell reception-without my phone, I'd be dead. K9 units and helicopters and teams were sent, and luckily after 24 hours I was found and helicoptered to the nearest hospital for my injuries. ALSO my bear spray was a godsend. The animals at night...they are terrifying.
Jesus what a nightmare. 😮
@@sarahsongz282 Yes however I totally deserved it for being stupid and cocky enough to think I’d be alright … never try that stuff alone!
I'm so glad you made it! You've definitely got stuff left to do on this earth! 🙂
@@katyb2793 Awww you are so kind! People like you restore my faith in humanity 🙂
That had to be so traumatic, oh my god. Only reading this and trying to think about what you went through in those 24hours physically and mentally makes my blood run cold tbh. So glad luck was on your side and you made it out of this alive 😢❤!
In South East Asian mystic belief, some people believe there is a guardian of forest which sometime will cause you to get lost and keep circling at the same place, still hidden from the real world.
I heard so many cases like this in where I come from. The authority was so puzzled each time when they found out the lost guy were at the same place the whole time but they couldn’t find him in the beginning.
Unfortunately, she did exactly what has been advised to all of us.
Stay put, conserve energy, don't get more lost and make yourself known.
That's fine advice for those without navigational skills to get themselves UNlost. The problem is that too many hikers never develop those skills, but are going into conditions where "stay put and wait for rescue" won't cut it.
@@ke9tv exactly!
What needs to be taught in emergency situations is not a standardized checklist, but more of ability and preparation.
For instance if she set up camp, and then everyday just walked in one direction, setting up totems to find your way back, and then the next day walk in a different direction. Eventually she would have found that logging road before being exhausted.
I'm also wondering what her weather was like for the last 30 days
No fire?
Thing is, she wandered around getting more lost first. Ideally as soon as she realised she didn't know the way back to the trail she should have made camp. She was probably only a few meters off trail and would have most likely been found. Since she wandered around trying to find her way back, then trying to get a signal, she ended up in a much harder area to find her. Very sad story.
@herstoryanimated yeah, how else do you figure out your lost?
When you "lapse" in your directional awareness in the woods ... it's an unreal feeling of isolation.
Burst of adrenaline, mind working overtime, so you lose your sense of time and how much area you covered in your panic.
Was a preteen, hunting in the Alleghenies in PA, I went just off a logging trail and got turned around.
You want to RUN and I did for a about 20 feet before I remembered my Boy Scout training. I kept looking back to where I HAD been and where I believed I came from, as I had some memory of where I went forward, but not what it looked like going back.
Was able to use my that and some of my own tracks to find my way back.
Wow! Happy you were able to focus and do that, especially before you got behind from no point of return! Your strategy really worked,
I was hiking the Maine 4000 footers during this time, and met some of the search crew and saw many helicopters. I was surprised to come up a few weeks later and see that they were still searching for her (I was hiking sugar loaf and Spaulding so very near to where she went missing.) It was pretty fucked up to find out that she was still alive at this time. I think you've understated how terrible her decision making was, especially considering that she could have simply chosen a single direction, any direction and walked at most 4 or 5 hours to reach a road or something. My assumption has always been that she had some level of dementia or was otherwise not someone who should have been out hiking alone.
I also believe she had a mild stroke or first big senior moment episode !
Her family admitted she could become "disoriented" in regards to direction and she did not have map and compass skills. Also her hiking buddy had recently left. Very sad to know she was so close to rescue so many times
@@janinelargent9220 and it looks like a person with a death wish and succeeded
Stroke was also my thinking.
Also possible to get dementia-like confusion from a UTI, especially in older adults.
I've heard of many missing person cases and true crime cases, but this particular case with Geraldine broke my heart. It's maddening to think that they couldn't find her, given her location. I've gotten lost in the woods before with no supplies and I remember thinking that I was gonna die out there. She had all these supplies and backpacking knowledge but was still swallowed up in the forest. It's cases like these that convinced me to turn down a National Park internship. No matter how much experience you have, getting lost and dying in the woods is far more likely than people think. I hope her family and her friend hiking with her don't blame themselves... to know she was out there 26 days and trying to find help is just heartbreaking.
Miss Geraldine looked so damn capable, strong and well provisioned with supplies. Yes, you're right if the searchers were later found to be around 100 yards from her it's crazy that she didn't hear them or the dogs. I can only imagine her fear and desperation. RIP Miss Geraldine, you fought a good fight.
My Dad and I when section hiking the AT, went and found her memorial using gps coordinates from the report. It's such an unfortunate story. She was next to a stream. Follow it down and she would have ran into the logging road that leads to the trail (if she would have turned left) and if she went right, she would have ran into the Navy Training area near Redington pond.
They decided NOT to search the Navy land and thats why they didn't find her alive. A stupid decision.
@@tiderover6574 the stupid decision was being 68 and going for a hella long hike alone with no map or compass and a poor sense of direction to begin with. That’s what’s stupid
@@noobovsky420 your criticism is not constructive, it is sadistic. Good luck with healthy aging if you have the courage.
@@marshalwest622 nah bruh is right. wtf anyone doing off road without at least a compass. It is not central park.
She died cause she was an idiot.
Learn from her idiocy n don't repeat her mistakes.
No compass, no map, no gps, she deserved to get lost in the woods and die for her hubris.
@@marshalwest622 I think the criticism is warranted. If you’re a vulnerable age/mental state try not to put yourself into situations that could lead to easy death. Even being in my early 20’s I’d have more fail safes in place just for this reason. You never know.
This is one of the best presentations of this story I’ve seen. Great job. With that said, I absolutely refuse to head into the back country without a compass. If I go off the trail, I know which direction I went off the trail, therefore, I know what direction to travel to get back to the trial. I also carry a roll of surveyors tape that I use to “blaze” my path when I go off trail for any reason. As I’m teaching my daughter and grandchildren to hike/backpack/camp/bushcraft/etc., these are items I won’t let them leave home without - a compass, surveyors tape, and a whistle. I highly encourage a number of other items, but without these, you don’t leave sight of civilization..! I use these same rules in a number of camps for children I am involved with. Everyone has a compass, and everyone has at least a rudimentary knowledge of how to navigate with it (and every compass has a whistle on it’s lanyard)!
Sound advice
This, no one has any business going out of civilization without a compass. Or at the very very least being able to find north so long as u can see the sky.
I will not shed tears for morons who die cause they got lost, cause they forgot a compass
Another problem is we don't know how windy it was. Long story short, I used to live in the West Country and wind going through/past trees, fields, hedges etc can be deafening. To the stage that you can't hear trains approaching.
I can't imagine how any of those poor people involved must feel, even now. Imagine knowing you were 1 of the teams that was so close to finding her and bringing her home, but somehow you all missed each other.
It's heartbreaking.
Another's problem is that we're always told, wherever we get lost, "Stay put." Don't wander off, make a shelter, make yourself easy to see and wait for rescue. She must have been so scared and eventually just the cold slip of acceptance must have just let her sleep. Hopefully.
At least she was finally found and her family got closure, but Jesus, that is heartbreaking 😿
This is very similar to what happened to my brothers childhood best friend. He was hiking in British Columbia on a mountain trail in October. They never found his body until nine months later in manning park, less than 3km from his campsite at the summit of frosty mountain. His name was Jordan Naterer.
Here's an idea. If you have to go to the "br", wait until you encounter a prominent feature right on the trail (like a tall tree) that you can always keep in sight as you walk away from the trail to do your business.
at around the time she was found I was in nearby Rangeley helping a friend clear a little family trail on private land in spring. You get into that dense forest and literally can't see 15 feet in front of you sometimes. The pines swallow the sound, so that I couldn't hear my friend hacking at a fallen log not far away. It just really is that dangerous. I make a point of looking at a map and evaluating emergency plans for this reason. Like someone else said, in New England, if you go downhill you'll find *something* and it will lead to *something* which will lead to civilization.
Been in Search and rescue in Australia, and have searched and done rescues in pretty dense bush... It can be super tough to spot someone let alone a the next search and rescue person in your team. Depending on what the search coordinators were telling the searchers to do, they may not have been making a lot of sound as to not stress or scare the person who is missing (usually done for kids and extenuating circumstances) But usually there is a lot of noise from the searchers of call out the persons name. Sometimes One searcher calls out then everyone is silent and listens for a reply. Also depending on Geraldine's condition / the conditions she had been in or through, she could of been sleeping or extremely dehydrated / injured and not able to hear the commotion and people calling out her name which may make more sense why she may not have been able to hear the logging road for example or even the commotion of hikers on the trail. I feel badly for her family and for the searchers on that part of the search, as a search and rescue person there's always the Question What if I had gone that little bit more further would I have found the person?
So, she did what is commonly advised. When you become lost in the woods with no idea which way to go, stay where you are, be obvious, listen and wait for the searchers. In this case, with a tragic ending. Truly sad. Thanks for sharing
not anymore. most advice now is to "walk downhill" and/or follow sun (rises in east, sets in west) in same direction and keep walking. and keep yelling and making noise.
That's advice you hear in the movies, it's not real advice.
I very much hope this is not the advice being given for survival in the wilderness.
Kyle, I am a retired Aerospace Engineer and Military Veteran. I have been a lifelong hiker and I too was inspired to find a solution to the problem Geraldine encountered. I have been developing a tool over the last three years to solve the problem of being in a low cell service area and not being able to actually have a message from your phone delivered. I have a dedicated server that guarantees a message like hers would be delivered to the database. Lets put out efforts together, and we will be able to prevent this type of tragedy from happening ever again. My tool will be for public use within the next three months just in time for the next Thru-hike season.
I'm not a hiker by any means, but being 2 miles away from a trail, coupled with not knowing which direction to walk in, to me still seems like a huge distance away from help. 2 miles is a long way.
Just setting up camp and waiting for rescue may seem like a good idea, but now having heard Geraldine's story, a realization occurred to me, a realization that in hindsight seems pretty intuitive. What would you do if you were being looked for and *did* *not* want to be found? Think about what you'd do and then do the opposite. I would definitely hunker down in a dense part of the forest if I didn't want to be found, so I would do the opposite of that if I did want to be found.
yell, scream, band items (tent poles, hollow can from cooking . . . .)
Shld be mandatory to carry a good whistle. Being mindful walking in, hang a bandanna. And for petes sake, dig a sm hole do the biz and get out. Ima a lefty so I'd face my left arm toward my exit. U made really good points. I live next to a forest preserve. I love walking the creek.
Or you could just walk in a straight line until you eventually hit a linear land feature, and then follow it out. If someone is stupid enough to hike remote wilderness without a compass (and this lady seems to fit that description), then use the sun for reference. But the Darwin Award winners are out there, just waiting for their day to dumbass their way into an avoidable death.
Is it weird that she worded her letter “my husband and daughter will be happy to know I am dead-- and where you found me”
Why would they be happy to know you’re dead seems suspish.
@@hebrewmama I think it’s not suspicious at all that she said that. Having a missing family member especially if they were found and no one told you is much, much worse than having a dead family member and you know exactly what happened to them.
A compass and a map are crucial. A flare gun too. It's so sad that she gave up trying to find her way out. And yes, how did they not find her, if she was only two miles away from the trail?! It's unreal how often this happens
even just making a fire (even when illegal it is alright to do in emergencies) can mean people can find you via the smoke (pee on the leaves if they are too dry) so it smokes nicely when the fire gets started...
If you are ever in that situation just keep going downhill. Find water and follow it. All streams go to rivers, all rivers go to civilization
Yup. Pretty simple. And I live in Maine.
But for how long it sounds good but scary when your in a huge wooded area 🤔 your afraid of going any direction in case its taking u further away that stream could be days away from civilization
@@sophiamcnamara9851 Don't over think yourself. There are basic rules that will save your life. Razz just gave it to you. Your already lost because of your thinking, you'll get confused. Then it will get dark.
@@sophiamcnamara9851 80% of the countries population lives EAST of the continental Dividing line.
If she was out West of that line in Larger Forests/Mountains, yes Then I would be fearful of just hoping to stumble upon help.
Tbh, it depends. Maybe true if no hilly slopes. Ime, few times I tried that the streams always led to some rocky waterfalls which are difficult to cross. I've heard experienced SAR folks also say the very same thing so not a given. Important thing is to mark your trail, not only for yourself but for rescuers to follow.
As a solo hiker this is concerning, for sure. Not gonna let it stop me though. RIP Geraldine.
Please be careful 🙏 on your journey 's ,I do hope u have a location device or satellite phone ,one never knows if you will ever need help one day ...happy trails tooo u
Just take a compass. Can't believe this lady didn't know that as an experienced hiker, but she didn't sound like the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Jesus Christ is Lord and he is coming back
@@JakeKoenig Why, she got lost and you think she sounds dumb?
She did what common advice tells you to.
@@Fallout3131 Common sense doesn't equal experienced & well-trained hiker
I've been lost in some canyon riddled parts of Arizona and omg the amount of fear getting lost off trail can cause! I feel really bad for her, that's not a way that anyone should die.
I work in search and rescue. Granted, aquatic search and rescue, but I think the same thing applies here. You'll be looking for a dead body, who, given current ocean conditions/currents/tides, couldn't have drifted out of the area you're searching. And you can't find them. You'll have lifeguards on jetskis, search & rescue divers, helicopters w. rescue swimmers etc. searching an area of as little as 1km^2 for hours, days and sometimes even weeks. All while knowing full well you've probably passed the body dozens of times, but you just can't see it. It's like a mental blockage and I feel like the bigger the media coverage and the more eyes you've got on you, the bigger the blockage gets.
Not so much a mental blockage. Your real field of vision that you can see clearly is about the size of a coin, held at arms length. Everything else that you think you see, if an illusion created by your brain that is built based on assumption of what you expect to see and what your eyes has seen as it scans around the area.
Two miles deep in the woods is a long way. And in the Maine woods, you might not see someone fifty feet away. I can see how it happened. I too have pondered Inchworm's death. Unless I were severely injured, I don't think I'd have done what she did. I always wondered.. did she forget which direction she got off trail? If she stepped off to the left, she could have just kept walking east until she found the trail again. Even if she wasn't sure which direction east was during the day, she'd surely have figured it out when the sun came up, right?
Such a great point! I wonder if panic and anxiety caused faulty decision making in this case.
@@TheHikingChick1 I remember reading that she was on anti-anxiety medication, which would have run out. So quite likely. And also that she had an absolutely terrible sense of direction, regularly left the shelter going the wrong way, etc. Her former hiking partner said Inchworm had relied on her for direction.
@Amy Forinash it's sad that she decided to carry on without her partner despite these factors and her limitations. Lessons for all of us. She pushed her boundaries, and sadly it didn't work out for her. 😥
I wondered the same thing. Had she remembered whether she had left the trail to the left or the right, she could have just gone due east or west to hit the trail eventually. But that's easy for me to say. A very sad story.
Moron went into woods with no compass, no map, no gps, no orienteering training at all.
Moron died cause they got lost
This is what happens when morons go into the wilderness
I never realized she was a flip-flopper. I thought she had started in GA. I was actually hiking in the area when they were looking for her. I checked the time stamps on the photos I took and sadly, she had already passed away by that date. I'm 65 and have gone on hikes up to 566 miles within the past 18 months so we old people can still put on the miles, but I bring an inReach with me (I'm not sure such trackers were available for her at that time) and I wouldn't go without it anymore. And I also use FarOut; a few times I have wandered off the trail, I was able to find it almost immediately.
I got lost coming off Redington in 2018. Luckily I was able to bushwhack back to Caribou Valley Road. At night. I don't know how I made it out other than New England hard-headedness. And thick woods is an understatement. I was not unscathed, but I made it. It is too easy to got lost in that area without proper knowledge. So many roads lead to nowhere.
Looks like you've reached your mark on subs. Congrats. I just wanted to thank you for being very respectful throughout this entire video and not making things up, like A LOT of people seem to do today. As someone who's family was murdered, my family and I hear and get accused for the most disgusting things I've ever heard in my entire life. God bless her and her family. Great job telling her story. I also wanted to tell you that one of my best friends hiked the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, The Continental Divide and so many more. He told me some crazy stories about all of the trails, God bless this lady for even attempting this, let alone by herself. Such a sad story.
Good coverage of the facts in this case, Kyle. I worked in SAR for 20 years. We used to teach (as much as possible) that, if you get lost, stop. Aimless wandering often gets a lost subject farther away from rescue. Gerry might have decided upon this since she had a lot of experience. Dog teams usually do not call out during sweeps, as they are alert for signs from the dog that the trail has been detected. The dogs are usually silent (except for heavy breathing) during sweeps. I don't know why she was unable to attract attention from the air search units, although I can tell you, it is mighty hard to spot a person on the ground from an aircraft in dense woods. This is the most tragic event that I can recall in all my years in SAR. So near...and yet, so far.
getting off trail for a nature break and losing the trail is one of my biggest fears. Great video.
It happened to me one time when I was in Girl Scouts. Let me tell you, it is ~Very~ easy to get turned around in the woods and is most frightening especially if it is late afternoon, and you have no pack. I just started shrieking. My shrieks were higher pitched and louder than an ordinary yell. Because of that, I was found in a short time, and man oh man was I EVER grateful with tears streaming down my face. That night our Scout Leader taught us all very important information. --That whenever we must go off trail to use mother nature, ALWAYS go in a straight line, and break the tips off from branches and shrubs along the way!!!! Also, scuffle your feet so as to make a trail, or use dead sticks to mark your path. Furthermore, Don't go more than a couple of yards. That way you can easily find your way back.
It’s for this reason I piss real close to the trail.
I have been thinking, recently, that I should bring string and tie it to my pack and let it unravel behind me so I can find my way back to the trail. Technically, you are supposed to be at least 200 feet off the trail, away from any water source. 200 feet is a long way off the trail.
Always follow a compass bearing when going off-trail. Ex.: Head dead south off the trail. Head dead north to get back on-trail.
Yep that's what I would do. I live in London England so no wilderness near me but still if I go into the woods I always have a good compass (Suunto or old made in Sweden Silva) somewhere with me. I'm amazed that people go on the AT with no compass or map. Then again most are reliant on tech nowadays. I wouldn't rely on any electronic device in the wilderness, they constantly screw up in day to day urban life as it is.
Or just look at the sun?? I personally only hike where i can use the mountains as directional markers
@@emilyeurope
Use the sun alone at your own risk. Here in New England the sun can become shrouded in clouds within minutes. Often, the sun is over a ridge and out of view.
@@simonh6371
Yup.
It is wise to use redundancies on the vitals...compass, paper map, back-up battery bank, water treatment, a second way to light a fire. And I always carry some extra light (lighter, rechargeable camp light) in my pocket at night lest my headlamp battery cut out while I am walking to and fro the privy or bear box, etc.. Hike enough miles with only your headlamp on your person and you could spend the night sleeping (or not sleeping) while awaiting somebody to come along with a light to lead you back to your camp site.
I also leave a flashing light on my tent at night when I leave it for such trips. I have had a heck of a time finding my tent at night when I don't do this.
@@chriseidam7319 Yeah that will happen with tiny mountains. I live in & around Banff National Park, not really an issue here.
Remember seeing the missing posters around the are when she went missing. Absolutely rattled the Maine hiking community and totally horrified to know how close the search came to her without finding her. Still think of Geraldine every time I’m in the Rangeley area. Maine is unforgivingly wild, especially in the western mountains. Our nature is breathtaking, but it can be very dangerous. Enjoy it, but be safe out there, y’all. ❤️
The fact that she was even hiking and doing this trail at her age of 68 is beyond impressive!
I rlly like how respectful, insightful, and informing you are about this disappearance. definitely rare but refreshing to me 🙂
I live in Maine, (thru-hiker GAME 02) and went out with two friends to look on our own 8/11 for Inchworm. We went north on the AT because of an incorrect sighting by two SOBOs - turns out she had not started the climb up Lone Mt after all. Had we gone south that day we were only 1 mile from Orbeton Stream, which is exactly where I would have predicted she stopped and went off trail for a BR break. She was still alive the day we were looking; this haunts me. I followed this search from Day 1 to the day she was found that October. So SAR wasted a bunch of days searching north of Orbeton towards Spaulding. She had that large orange whistle and she was found near a water source. She seemed to have become paralyzed with fear and anxiety and didn’t know how to save herself. It’s very sad. And yes, she had a SPOT messenger which she had left behind in the motel room with her husband. If anyone needed to carry this kind of device it was her but she was concerned about pack weight since this section had to be backpacked - not slack-packed. Her search remains Maine’s largest ever.
The aftermath of all this can be summed up as this
Moron goes into woods with no compass, no map, no gps, no beacon
Gets lost and dies a moron
A SPOT messenger weighs 4 ounces.
I like your missing hiker videos, Kyle. You’re a good storyteller.
Keep them coming.
It’s great that you’re building awareness and also keeping the lost/deceased hikers’ memories alive. Thank you.
I am in no way passing judgment here. What happened to Inchworm is tragic in the most heartbreaking way. She did her best to survive, and my heart goes out to her and her family. To support what @ke9tv said… anyone who is willing to put out the kind of money it takes to fund a long distance thru hike (or even just a day hike, but, especially a thru hike), to put in the time to buy equipment, research the trail, etc… ANYONE preparing to do that should, at a very minimum, become familiar with the very basics of land navigation techniques… basic map reading, basic compass use, how to shoot an azimuth/reverse azimuth, how to orient a map and recognize land marks and terrain… I’m talking at a VERY BASIC level here. Everything I’ve mentioned here can be learned by any person in a matter of hours or days with a minimal amount of practice by either TH-cam videos or books. Learning even the most basic tenets of land navigation could save a life in the woods, and, most importantly, it will instill a basic level of confidence in a person and help them stay calm in the moment. A calm person makes more rational decisions.
Lastly, don’t rely solely on electronics. Electronics fail… electronics aren’t always accurate… electronics have batteries that die. Always have a map & compass as a backup.
What would the modern hiker do without a cell phone and GPS? Our 1977 PCT thru hike navigation was 100% map and compass.
well said.
@@Beertownbill many of us who are wise still take paper topo maps and compasses. 🙆🏻♀️
I read a comment on another video and the amount of ridicule aimed at compass and map navigation by a commenter… it was incredible. According to that commenter, there is absolutely no point in compass/map. Yet that type of orientation has been used forever. He said “just keep your phone and gps charged”. I was appalled at the stupidity of that attitude and I am not a hiker.
The REI in my area has classes to learn how to navigate with a map and compass. It seems like common sense to take one before embarking on such a journey. Even with all the electronics it makes sense to carry the extra ounces for those two things.
I'm a ham radio operator. It's worth having a radio with you for this reason plus it's fun to set up ecomms in the wilderness as a hobby. It's pretty cool to be able to talk to people half way around the world with a little bit of light equipment. Of you are reading this and thinking "hmmm, maybe I'll get a license" I would recommend taking both the tech and general at the same time, the tech license isn't very useful. Also look up SOTA and POTA to see what is possible.
I’ve spent a decent amount of time hiking through dense woods with friends, and there are times where you can hardly hear friends shouting 50 or even 20 yards up, or the direction of the sound feels off because there’s so much that it’s bouncing off of. I definitely don’t find it hard to believe that she wouldn’t have heard people from 100 yards off
Thank you for bringing this to light to help people prepare for these unfortunate situations.
I appreciate the care that you took in trying to be respectful to everyone involved while also reminding a neophyte hiker like myself how to avoid similar trouble. The fact that 10 years of GPS advancements and accessibility have made this tragic situation less likely to happen is a blessing sure to be supported by Geraldine’s family & friends.
Gps runs on batteries and will fail, she decided to lighten her load and have her husband carry the gps to the next spot for her.
Compass and a paper map requires nothing to support em.
If all u got is a gps and that is all u know about finding where u are in the world, ur gonna die just like that moron did eventually.
Learn to orient. Learn the compass, learn to fix north in as many non compass ways u can, learn how to use a topo map.
Between compass, topo, and gps there should be little to no chance of getting lost so long as your brain functions normally.
She was a moron and died a moron
I can't imagine how scared she must have felt, especially since she wrote her farewell 2 weeks before she actually died. It is nice to be away from the world and not rely on phones, but I am certainly happy I had my phone and Inreach on the trail. Even if I put my pack down to find a bathroom spot, I will always take my GPS with me.
Btw, I love the diversity of your videos! Some stories, some gear/tips/etc and lots of hiking videos. Keep it up!
Taking your GPS with you when you go off trail for the bathroom is a great idea. I do the same thing, largely because this story has stuck with me through the years. Thanks for your kind words, I'm glad you appreciate the diversity of my content!
I would advise to keep your backpack with you at all times. Leave something on the trail, like poles, hat, bandana etc… but leaving your backpack can be a dangerous mistake, should something occur that might keep you from getting back to it.. 🙈
Lesson 1: PLEASE carry a PLB or satellite communicator. This disaster would have been solved in a couple of hours if she had carried a satellite device.
Lesson 2: PLEASE learn the basics of navigation before you head into wild country. She had a 2100 mile handrail to aim for but couldn't find it, and there were other major navigational features in the area that she didn't have the skills to use.
Lesson 3: If you do need rescue, PLEASE set up camp in a visible position - not in a thicket like Geraldine. The rescuers were often yards away from her and still couldn't see her.
My own theory is that she was suffering from dementia. It's the only way to explain her bizarre behaviour. Days before this incident a party found her walking in the wrong direction down the trail and had to turn her around. Her family denies that she was a sufferer, but I've worked in the field and it can be greatly exacerbated by stress.
If she hadn't stopped... she almost certainly would have lived... this is heartbreaking.
What a sad story Kyle...thanks for bringing this story to light again. My heart breaks
It's heart breaking for sure. I wanted to make a video on it because this story has stuck with me for many years, even before I had a TH-cam channel. Thanks for watching
@@KyleHatesHiking you bet
Sad story but nice video! I've heard about this many different times but never heard as many details as you shared. This story was still very much alive in the thru hiker community this year as we made our way through Maine. So sad!
I remember being lost for like 5 min coming back from the privy
It was super scary… I think I left my phone in the tent too, I can’t imagine how terrifying this must have been
May her and her husband rest in peace. He died in 2019 I suppose. Sending all the love and healing. I wish her loved ones the best in life and all the strength and happiness. Stay strong brave fighter. May you be remembered forever as a brave fighter who did everything she could and at such a age. More power to her loved ones..🥺❤️
I've been snowmobiling around the area of Rangeley Maine for decades. Every winter I ride those logging trails, even the one that leads behind Saddleback mountain near where she went missing. Those woods are dense and I mean dense with a lot of young trees, mostly birch and pine. Because of the dense young tress sound is very muffled. I could park my snowmobile on the side of the trail and only hear another sled maybe with 75 yards away from me at times depending on the area (tree density & hill terrain).
I also want to add that those logging roads are a labyrinth that just go on forever constantly forking, looping, and dead ends. Even with a map its very easy to get lost and disoriented on those logging trails. We have come a crossed lost riders in a panic in the past and had them follow us back to town. The northern Forrest of Maine is very desolate and depending on the time of year very dangerous. From the location she was found she could have gone 10 miles in "almost" any direction and never came a crossed any civilization. Logging road yes but that honestly could do more harm than good. Best to just stick to a heading till you hit a actual paved road.
If you’re lost, follow the water. It goes to the sea so you’re bound to see someone well before you get there…❤
Good advice !
They also travel off steep ledges and down into canyons where you may not be able to climb back out of if you follow it down. You have to be very careful. And not all brooks and rivers that you encounter in the wilderness go to the sea. At least, not directly. Many of them disappear underground.
@Daemon Thorn Maine has gorges. I know of no deep canyons. This isn't the west. There is always a way around. What would suck would be hitting where another major river came together and trying to cross the smaller to keep following the large one. But in that case you probably would have already found help where 2 major rivers come together
And she was following the common wisdom that it's best to stay in one place if one gets lost. Her story shows that there are exceptions to the rule. Also, I really like this new, more mature Kyle. He's a good story teller with compassion for the people he's talking about. Who knew? I'll still watch your hiker videos, but these are a nice change of pace.
I remember that advice as a boy scout. Nowadays, I prefer self rescue. Always carry backup compass and paper maps as GPS units can fail. Had a recent trip where a power hungry app drained my phone battery such that when I needed to refer to the GPS , it was dead.
Lol that’s if you loose your mom in the grocery store or mall
Common wisdom... if you get lost in a supermarket.
Common wisdom is to bring a compass at the very least
She had no compass, no map, no gps
She was a moron and died a moron
Don't be a moron like her
That's not common wisdom though
I got lost in a snowstorm in the Blue Mountains in Australia, completely turned around. But I remembered my training and trusted my compass, ("it's a precision instrument, you are an idiot") even though I was 100% sure it was wrong. I got back to the trail in half an hour.
With a compass you can search your surroundings without losing touch with your camp, even at night/in low visibility. They cost $25 and weigh 50g. You can buy a GPS-Altimeter-Compass watch for $200.
I was going to add, searchers divide an area into half mile square grids. Your mission, if stuck is to fill up your square of the grid with stuff pointing at your camp. Search folk use flagging tape and a sharpie for this. A whistle and signal mirror can help. 100g the lot.
Good call. Always carry a compass and um... learn how to use it too!
Damn,I had no idea it snows in Australia.
@@jeremywanner4526 snow/ski season in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales is June to October, this was Sept. I was prepped for it but even so: it was like being inside a ping pong ball. Grim.
I got lost on the AT once. I wasn’t hiking it, just camping on Mt. Rogers just a hundred yards or so off the AT. Planned for a month, stayed a bit over 2 weeks. Went out for a day hike and got lost. Fortunately I had a compass, a map and knew my camp site, the two access/parking areas and a couple other landmarks. I hit a horse trail, followed that for a while till I hit another trail that I was almost certain led back to the main parking/access area where I started. Whereas finding my campsite, well, ya’ couldn’t get there from where I was. 😅 And I was right. Stayed overnight in a little snack area in the campground there, made the 3 hour hike back the next day.
If she is hard of hearing and she had been out there for 26 days, they were out there searching for 12 days, I can imagine her voice, even if she was able to hear them, was likely weak. It may have been possible that she was unable to yell or call out unfortunately:(
This story boggles my mind! To imagine getting lost from just stepping off the trail to potty. Rescuers were so close to her, too. God bless her. She had to be so scared.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy tells folks to get off The Trail by about 100' so as to leave no trace. Inchworm did just that. InchWorm was directionally challenged and had no business hiking alone. The AT is not an amusement park. Hikers die out there but that is not necessarily a sad thing. We are all terminal. The AT is not a bad place to die. Walk Well.
I remember this - and I have been lost a ton. I always kept going and found the trail again, but damn. Poor thing. So close. How did they miss her? Crazy.
Want to add that since I hike solo I ALWAYS have my Garmin - a literal lifesaver.
SO worth the $15 a month (cheapest plan lol). I upgrade if I’m going out for a long time to have unlimited messaging - And can suspend it and reactivate it whenever. Got me out of a thigh-deep washed out mess on the NPT in May.
(Not employed by Garmin, lol)
@@danik6393 what happened if you don’t mind me asking?!
@@Fallout3131 To me? I just get off trail because I follow deer and get distracted by views :) (Highly recommend any Garmin!)
The combination of hiking and horror stories is very intriguing to me. Subbed.
Geraldine, thank you for your service! God bless your family in their grief.
I enjoy hearing hiker's stories. I like the IDEA of hiking. I wouldn't ever do it myself because I have absolutely no sense of direction. I feel like what happened to Geraldine would happen to me honestly.
Just told my daughter this story about three hours ago. She appreciated your telling with photos and more detail.
The subject called up after she told me about her latest day hike where she carried a small daypack with a couple bottles of water, compass & map, snacks, ponchos and fire starting tools, and other hikers thought she was stupid.
It’s not stupid to carry the Ten Essentials. You never know what might happen out there.
Your daughter was very wise. It's the other hikers who are stupid. They will surely feel embarrassed if they run into problems and cannot cope because they are not adequately prepared! 😊
@@GypsyGirl317 like those kids back in the late 90's who were caught in a sudden snowstorm. They were ill prepared in shorts, light jackets, and no way to even make a fire. My Aunt was in grief counseling after losing her son (different event), and met a parent of one of the girls who had died. It was tragic but could have been avoided. 😔
better be overprepared than under.
Getting lost is terrible. The disorientation resulting from it and the anxiety coupled with it lead to tragedy. I live in the desert, we have people here dying constantly and some of them were only a couple of kilometers away from main roads.
It is very easy to get turned around and people don’t take in account what can go wrong in those instances. How many times have I walked into a store to come out and forget exactly where I parked? That little bit of forgetfulness can kill you in the outdoors.
Dude, seriously awesome job coming up with a new niche in the TH-cam backpacking community with this foray into trail history.
I think I was around mid 50s when, after an embarrassing incident, I realized my sense of direction is probably weakening, so ever since I don’t do risky walks or hikes, and I pay much closer attention to landmarks even when it’s necessary to park my car blocks from my destination.
I never researched it, but I think there’s an innate sense of direction, and like all senses, it begins to weaken maybe around age 50, if not sooner.
I wish the woman had gone with a group led by a very capable guide.
Once you start walking in circles it's bad.
She was known by her friends and people who hiked with her as someone with very poor navigation skills and orientation abilities. She was warned not to hike alone. In a word she was oblivious. Simple map and compass skills should have saved her. I wonder if she had either map or compass with her.
It’s sad but it goes to show how even stepping off trail to use the bathroom can be fatal. I bet a lot of disappearances are because of leaving the trails. Maybe carry a small rope or wire to tie to a tree
My brothers hiked the trail in this area and I want to also but this is scary. You know she had to have been screaming, yelling or anything...that breaks my heart that she had to endure this before she died. I only pray that hypothermia took her and not starvation ect. It's not ideal but at the end you have a sense of peace/ euphoria. I pray that her family gets peace some day🏞️🌹
yeah Im gonna skip this one buddy, every time I think about her story it makes me want to cry. Keep up the great work young man!
Always carry a personal locator beacon in case you get lost, it may save your life. Very sad case indeed, may Geraldine rest in peace
The woman in question did not have the skills to be doing this hike. Her friend did not want to leave because Geraldine kept getting turned around and she was concerned she was not able to go it alone. Many people told her not to do this (though her progression was impressive) The friend begged her not to continue or wait until she could rejoin her because she had trouble with maps and a compass.
She went through a class before this and her teachers told her, her improvement wasn't good enough to do this. This is a lesson to LISTEN and not assume gumption will be enough. PLEASE learn to use your items and don't do a trail alone if you are told you aren't ready.
I worked in the far north as a forester researching peatlands. It seems to me that preparing yourself with a compass and reviewing a topo map and/or aerial photos of the area you are hiking is the prudent thing to do. Too often novices over estimate their abilities. It seems to me that the increasing popularity and use of gps based orienteering and route following is inherently dangerous if the user has no other ability or knowledge of how to traverse.
Absolutely. A gps or cell phone app is no replacement for a compass and some general knowledge of the area and nearby road systems. If you know there’s a road to the north of you that runs east to west. And you get hopelessly lost. All you have to do is follow your compass north until you hit the road.
It's still mind boggling to me that even with Canine units she wasn't found, I also disliked that her story was added to the "murdered on the AT" list I found online bc it was never foul play.
When I read her story it was so tragic to me because She took so many steps to ensure she'd be found except simply hiking out. I cannot imagine the guilt her friend must have felt either for leaving. I completely understand why she stayed put, they said she got turned around often on her own. BUT I try to use stories like hers as examples of why staying put is sadly not always the best option. with civilization and deforestation at an all time high its very rare you'll even be able to hike 10 days in one direction without reaching something. PLEASE ALSO never wait past the amount of food you have, or to me more than even five days is dangerous. I if nobody has come its likely nobody can or will find you. losing four days hiking in several wrong directions and back versus 14 staying put with no food to me would be best. And Carry a compass at all times.
I say this from experience though my distance wasn't substantial, I'd urge never to walk over a mile in the wrong direction off trail regardless. When I was little I went exploring in the forest behind my house. I was alone and got turned around in the woods and lost. I knew the field near my house was roughly 1 mile from where I was (I didn't call it a mile then, it would have been an hour to thirty minute walk), I stacked rocks and branches in a circle so I'd have a marked location to always returned to and then I walked an hour in the wrong direction and I took a small rock at the time and marked so many trees front to back by beating the rock against it and exposing the flesh of the tree, every time I walked I sang songs I knew to be so many minutes long to keep track of my distance traveled 20 songs at 3 minutes each equaled an hour. With An hour of walking I was able to navigate back following my "cutouts" to the circle point I'd created and simply hiked the opposite direction back. It was very time consuming and at took me nearly four hours just to hike 2 miles. But I wasn't lost for days on end due to this. Being an adult now I can purchase things to help me like a compass or wear brighter colors in the fall months, start fires and even put on google maps which will sometimes pinpoint my actual location off trail. (I've done this). She made the best decisions you can make for someone staying put, but I wish she had tried to move, even moving to a more aerial spot that isn't encased in foliage could've saved her. I also carry a flat hiking mirror. It can be hung up and used as a reflective surface to signal if people search at night or by air.
wow, awesome. also, a simple whistle (no batteries needed). Keep screaming and yelling, at least once every hour.
Like everyone knows 20 songs.
Sounds like foul play to me. Her stuff could have been out there.
About five years ago a family (and their dog) I knew disappeared. They checked the woods by their house for weeks. I thought it was strange they didn't find anything because of tv I thought search and rescue crews were very accurate.About a year later someone walking their dogs found them in shallow graves in those same woods.
Why were they in graves? Who buried them?
How sad :(
good question...@@thelolmaster626
If this is the same story I'm thinking of. It was murder suicide. The husband lured them all out there and killed them
So many times I've heard of stories like this and of people getting lost for a few hours before they could find their way back to the trail, just because they had to go to the bathroom. Here is a simple fix for that and you'll never have to be lost. 250 foot of bright pink bank line. If you step off the trail, tie a line!! I have done it for years and I have never had any problems.
Very true! While on the trail its obvious which direction you're supposed to go in, but as you walk off you can quickly loose sight of the trail. Especially in dense woods with narrow trails, and loosing sight of the trail can be very disorientating. You might think you would remember which direction you came from but not seeing the trail clearly will mess with you and is surely freaky.. Using a string is a great way to approach this..
I'm hiking the appalachian trail right now and it really surprises me how few of my fellow hikers have any emergency plans for situations like this and even less carry physical maps. It's easier than people think to get lost though. She must have had a physical map with the apps back then. She must have found a source of water to live 26 days like she did. She had the ability to see the suns movement in the sky and surmise general east and west. And based on her husband's press briefing after they found her, he said she had no debilitating injuries until she succumbed to exposure.
There is another guy that just went missing near cowrock and blue mountain last month. His name is Tony and he's 39. I hope he is found soon