Camper found after 6 wks in wilderness

Oh yeah, that's what we need "a pass required" to go hiking? I must disagree. We have too many laws and too many rules already, and most are uninforceable. Are we gonna pay Rangers to follow people and check their hall passes? That won't cost the tax payers any more money? ;)

Is there a reason we are assuming this lady wasn't an experienced backpacker? Did I miss a news item saying she didn't know what she was doing in the woods? Or are we saying because she was female she obviously wasn't experienced?

I also disagree about paid rescues. Who makes the choice whether it's a warranted rescue or not? It would be like saying if your house catches fire you should have to pay for the firemen to be dispatched. Or pay the CoastGaurd to come and help you if your boat capsizes. Our tax dollars may get squandered on a lot of things, but I don't believe it's wasted on rescue equipment or the relatively little amount of wages those people make to risk their lives to save others.

I agree with Longbow and others, this lady had the skills to keep herself alive, in the cold, in the wilderness, end of story.

What they need to do (media) is get the full story, describe how she was able to make it for 6 weeks, and what others in her position can do , also, to save themselves.

I'm not going to go negative on a story like this. She gets credit for keeping herself alive, the hikers get credit for finding her, and the rescue folks get credit for scooping her up. Alive is Alive, period.


Is there another news article I missed that said she up and decided to imitate Les Stroud and it was her first outing? If so, I'd love the link to it, if not, how did we extrapolate some of these assumptions?

Here is what I read that is reported as fact, I'll add my "opinion" in italics so there is no mixture of the two.

-She was hypothermic, when the guys found her, initially, because it had been down in the teens at night.
I didn't see where it said that she was dehydrated.
-It stated she was drinking from the river.

-She left South Carolina to go hiking in New Mexico for 2 weeks.
South Carolina is not known for it's metropolis's, so to instantly say she was a city dweller has no basis in fact. If it were someone going out on an impulse, why would she decide, of all places, to go to Gila New Mexico?

OK, So she went to her local REI, bought supplies and drove to NewMexico? on a hiking whim?

-There is no mention of her outdoors experience.
Any guesses would simply, be just that, guesses.

The fact she is alive infers she had some kind of clue how to survive.

I would imagine we will get a more full story once she is discharged?
For now, we should stick to the facts.

-She is alive.
-She spent 5 to 6 weeks in Gila National Forest.
_She had a tent, sleeping bag, food and water for 2 weeks.
-She was found hypothermic, and weak, but quite alive.
-The two guys who found her hiked 20 miles in one day to report her location.
She wasn't just a couple clicks down a trail.
 
Here's why she was probably weak and dehydrated

"Dorn had a tent, a sleeping bag and enough food and water for two weeks. After that, she drank from the river"
 
It could be she was no more dehydrated than the rest of Americans. I remember hearing or reading that something like half of Americans walk around everyday at one level or another of dehydration.
 
SkunkWerX said:
I'm not going to go negative on a story like this.
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I agree with just about everything you said except for this. There is a reason to go negative on this story, and it's because the woman went off into the wilderness without leaving enough information behind to help people find her if the need arose.

It's clear from the newspaper article that her car was found, but that the searchers had no idea where to look for her.

Look, I don't care if you're a man or a woman, a city slicker or a hard-core Army Ranger out for some R&R. If you're going to head off into the wilderness, it's flat-out stupid, not to mention unnecessary, to fail to tell SOMEONE where you're going. There's simply no excuse for that kind of thing.

I don't even want to diss her for going solo. Heck, most of my wilderness experience is solo so I completely understand the impulse to head out all alone. But not without leaving a trip itinerary with someone you trust.

I don't think that can be said enough. Shit happens, as this story illustrates. You want to leave enough breadcrumbs behind to help people save you, if you need to be saved.
 
Internet yields pretty thin facts.

According to AP, CBS, and the local newspaper, she was "weak," "dehydrated," and "hypothermic." The second seems strange since there was lots of precip and she was next to a river -- unless she had the runs.

Her family described her as "an experienced camper."

The Albuquerque Journal said she was a "familar face to people around Silver City and Grant County [New Mexico."

The local paper said Dorn traveled often to Silver City and that she was "a drummer at local gatherings."

Although the offical search lasted only three days, locals kept looking for nearly two weeks.

She was out five weeks, starting December 6.

Searchers didn't even know she was backpacking or hiking. They just knew her car had been found on a back road and could only speculate as to what had happened to her.
 
unless she had the runs.
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That's quite possible. The news said she had been eating grass and drinking from the river.

Surviving five weeks in the wilderness with the recent weather conditions down there, it really is amazing. She must have been in good physical condition and had a good attitude. Those two factors are key.

-Bob
 
Thomas Linton said:
Internet yields pretty thin facts.

According to AP, CBS, and the local newspaper, she was "weak," "dehydrated," and "hypothermic." The second seems strange since there was lots of precip and she was next to a river -- unless she had the runs.
Click to expand...

I can't remember where, but I've read that no one is ever found in a condition of advanced hypothermia who is not also dehydrated. The two conditions go hand-in-hand it seems.

Someone who understands more about the physiological effects of hypothermia might be able to explain this. Or maybe I'm simply mistaken....
 
Thomas Linton said:
That "experienced camper," although from the story, was for you, bulgron. :D
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Ah, my mind is on many things these days and so I missed the subtle messaging in your post. Nicely done. :D

I fear that in the end, this story will once again serve to prove that over-confidence is a supremely bad thing.
 
I can't remember where, but I've read that no one is ever found in a condition of advanced hypothermia who is not also dehydrated. The two conditions go hand-in-hand it seems.
Click to expand...
Dehydration is a leading cause of hypothermia. As explained to me, the human body cannot maintain it's body temperature when low on fluids.

Alchohol is another frequent contributing factor - booze makes you feel warmer by increasing circulation to the extremeties, but lowers the body's core temperature. That's why Saint Bernard rescue dogs don't really carry jugs of brandy. :)

-Bob
 
My understanding was she crossed a river and was camping. When she got back to cross the river to go back at whatever that point was. A week or two after, I don't know. The river at that point was swollen to the point she felt it was too dangerous and she wisely realized she could not cross it safetly in that state and waited. I assume by the time it was safe to cross she was too weak to attempt it. I am not willing to condem her for her actions. It sounds like she may have done many things right. If she had left and itinerary that would have saved her, family and the searchers a lot of heartache and her coming near to death. If she could be faulted for anything it would be that. IMHO.

KR
 
Good for her ! I'm happy she's fine. But hey whats up with this she's 52 crap? like thats old?:D I'm only 4 years from that , I hike ,hunt ,camp,canoe etc.

I can run a mile in close to 7 minutes and do 16 chin ups. 52 is not one foot in the grave anymore boys !! shes 52 ? Damn if i wAs only single.;)
 
TEXASTACTICAL said:
It could be she was no more dehydrated than the rest of Americans. I remember hearing or reading that something like half of Americans walk around everyday at one level or another of dehydration.
Click to expand...

I got tired of hearing "if you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated," (really, this statement makes no sense. It's like saying, "if you're hungry, your blood sugar levels are already dangerously low;" "if you're shivering, you're already hypothermic;" "if you feel hot, you're already experiencing heat exhaustion"... it wouldn't make sense for the homeostatic 'fix this' signals from the brain to lag so far behind whatever's going wrong) and I did some research.

Check out this gem of an article from the AJP: http://ajpregu.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/283/5/R993
 
OK, folks, that semi-old gal did some things right. But she did some things wrong, too. So did the SAR people who looked for her. Besides getting stuck on the wrong side of a river she felt she couldn't cross again, the most glaring error that I see she made was apparently having little if any means of signalling to someone that she needed help. Obviously, if she had left with her vehicle or with someone she knew written plans for what she intended to do and where she intended to go that would have been a major help in locating her. If SAR had widened their search grid they might well have spotted her, too. From the account I've read, the two boys who found her just barely heard some "faint sound" from across the river. I don't know what they heard, but I am a big believer in everyone having a good whistle at all times! Apparently she did not have a whistle, despite them costing a very few dollars, being widely available, and taking up little space in one's kit. There were several other signalling devices she should have had, up to and including one of these personal locater beacons which someone going off alone in a wilderness area should consider essential equipment.
 
Of course she should have left an itinerary! Maybe a note with the rangers, and/or with her car. That's pretty obvious.
Most who ends up in a survival situation gets there for a reason. A lot of times they have made an error, or three.

There are plenty of hikers who don't leave itineraries. It doesn't make it right, but it happens.

My point was that there is not need to bash her for what she went through.
Or make comments such as "she's a hag" , or inferances that it was her first hike, or she is a product of the TV shows she watched. It was a lot of baseless conjecture and opinion.

Perhaps balance the criticism with some praise. As was stated, she knew better than to try to cross the swollen river, that right there is a lesson for the masses.
 
SkunkWerX said:
Of course she should have left an itinerary! Maybe a note with the rangers, and/or with her car. That's pretty obvious.
Most who ends up in a survival situation gets there for a reason. A lot of times they have made an error, or three.

There are plenty of hikers who don't leave itineraries. It doesn't make it right, but it happens.

My point was that there is not need to bash her for what she went through.
Or make comments such as "she's a hag" , or inferances that it was her first hike, or she is a product of the TV shows she watched. It was a lot of baseless conjecture and opinion.

Perhaps balance the criticism with some praise. As was stated, she knew better than to try to cross the swollen river, that right there is a lesson for the masses.
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Right on, Skunk. :thumbup: Let's look at it another way. She's 8 years younger than me :thumbup:
Obviously likes the outdoors :thumbup:
Went by herself (apparently doesn't need somebody to nag all the time) :thumbup:
Probably is in pretty good shape :thumbup:
Definitely not some kind of primadonna clothes horse :thumbup:
While she could be criticized for not leaving an itinerary, perhaps it was because she didn't know for sure where she was going - an adventurer! :thumbup:
I know I'll probably take some heat for the last one, but that's ok. I've done it myself.
Also, aside for the lack of an itinerary, she had enough sense not to cross the swollen river. :thumbup:

All in all, sounds like an interesting woman.:thumbup:

Doc
 
Dang Doc, it is pretty amazing.....

If she can make fire-by-friction and has big bazoombas you got yourself a potential camping buddy! :thumbup: :thumbup:

She already has all her own gear! ;)


disclaimer: the above comment was totally chauvinistic, even sexist and was intended as such, just don't tell my wife. :o
 
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