Regardless of which side of the SAR/Hiking Solo debate people take, there always seem to be some headscratching moments in stories like these. Good to hear she's safe, but let it begin.....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-hiker-rescued-mt-hood-20130401,0,7230749.story
http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/headlines/recovering-hiker-endured-doubt-while-stranded-on-mount-hood/article_d097a22c-669d-5c79-9a0a-ccbff39bba9e.html

I'm glad she is safe but I thought one person in the group was required to carry a plb or cell phone? maybe i'm wrong though.

darwin swings and misses.

mfox79 wrote:I'm glad she is safe but I thought one person in the group was required to carry a plb or cell phone? maybe i'm wrong though.

No such requirement, only the standard recommendations. If I recall correctly, the gear checklist on the registration form does allow you to check the box indicating that you have brought along your "common sense". It always made me smile when coming across that essential item.

bananachips wrote:No such requirement, only the standard recommendations. If I recall correctly, the gear checklist on the registration form does allow you to check the box indicating that you have brought along your "common sense". It always made me smile when coming across that essential item.

But what is also startling is how often that essential item isn't packed along with the gear...

glad she's safe; I think her praise and thanks to her god should be directed to the local SAR team though.

Hmmmm...


Glad she's OK!

This keeps getting better...http://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-hiker-endured-doubt-while-stranded/

Wrong side of the mountain? Trees? Lights from a snowpark? Sandy fucking glacier?? Where the mufuck was she and how the mufuck did she get there??

I'm not entirely sure how you start at Timberline and end up on the wrong side of the mountain.... but I did see she got going at 1000AM, so she's got the alpine start going for her

I'm pretty sure when I realized that I couldn't follow my own trail down the mountain I would have figured out where/when to hunker down and wait out the storm. Solo hiking is some of the best but you don't take any risks when there isn't anybody there to back you up.

As a former SAR grunt, I'm glad she's alive and won't pass judgement on how she got there.

As a private citizen, she comes off as a foolish, stubborn ignoramus. She made bad decision after bad decision and yet still lives.

We'll be hearing from her again.

I can almost guarantee she wasn't on the Sandy Glacier. It's a journey involving a shit ton of traversing and at least two significant down climbs to get to, not to mention finding a way up and over the Yokum Ridge. She must be confusion the Sandy with the Zigzag... I might even believe Reid... but not Sandy.