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Post by tallgirl on Oct 19, 2020 17:44:49 GMT
Have you heard about the hiker who disappeared while hiking solo in Zion National Park 2 weeks ago? A 38 year old woman, who has now been found safe. And I'm happy that she's safe; I can't imagine the relief her family feels. But... does the story seem odd to you? I feel like there's something funny about it. She went out one afternoon for a 'day hike'... but was carrying a multi-day pack, a sleep hammock and blanket. There's been no public account for where she was or why she didn't return as expected. Now there's a new article up on CNN saying her family took her to hospital, where she was treated for dehydration and malnourishment. Wouldn't the authorities normally do that? I don't know... maybe I'm reading too much into it. What do you think? www.cnn.com/2020/10/19/us/missing-zion-hiker-holly-courtier/index.html |
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carhoch
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Post by carhoch on Oct 19, 2020 17:47:50 GMT
I agree there is something off with that story
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Post by birukitty on Oct 19, 2020 17:57:35 GMT
The article says she was an experienced hiker. Even though she was carrying a multi-day pack with a sleep hammock and blanket to me, even though she may have gone out for a day hike, couldn't this also show she was packing for an emergency in case something happened while she was out there? Like packing extra items just in case?
As a sailor I do this every time I go out for a sail even if it's just for an afternoon. I pack extra water, some food, an extra flashlight, extra dry clothes, and so on because you have to be prepared for emergencies. Most of the time I don't need them. But in that 10 or 20% chance, or whatever it is those items can come in very handy or even could save your life.
I'm sure in this hiker's case they did save her life. I don't read anything suspicious in her case, although I could be proven wrong.
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Post by katlady on Oct 19, 2020 17:58:00 GMT
When I read about this last night I was wondering why there was no mention of her condition, or where or how she was found. And then this article that is linked says they received a tip on where she was. A tip?? It is odd.
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Post by Sparki on Oct 19, 2020 17:59:34 GMT
From what I've read, everyone thinks there's something off in this story, me included.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2020 18:05:16 GMT
@tallgirl any experienced hiker takes multiple day items even if only going on a small to day hike. Nothing odd about that.
The tip throws off my radar though and is making it beep.
I hope she wasn't trying to get away from the stress of being a wife and mom. How many others have done this?
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Post by ntsf on Oct 19, 2020 18:05:51 GMT
I don't find it surprising she was carrying emergency gear.. a standard practice for hikers is to carry the "ten essentials".. that allow you to spend the night in emergencies. see rei.com for a great discussion of them. you could throw in a hammock if that is what was lying around. there may be more to the story, but zion is full of canyons and anyone can get lost for a while. it is up to the person how much is shared to media..esp on health. you can survive 7 days without water and 30 days without food
there was a long distance hiker.. hiked almost 2000 miles, got lost stepping off trail to go to bathroom.. died a month later.. found a year later.
so.. I would like to know more but don't expect to hear.
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Post by redshoes on Oct 19, 2020 18:06:16 GMT
I agree, something sounds odd/off about the story, but whatever the situation, I am glad she had provisions that kept her safe for so long.
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Post by tallgirl on Oct 19, 2020 18:06:27 GMT
She also wasn't carrying her phone. I understand that you should be prepared for an emergency, but you'd also think your phone would be the first line of defense.
Glad to know I'm not the only one with a raised eyebrow - we'll see if anything more comes from this.
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paget
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Post by paget on Oct 19, 2020 18:10:20 GMT
I don’t think it has to be weird. Dd1 loves her hammock and brings it lots of places to enjoy not intending to sleep overnight but rather relax, take a break, and enjoy nature. The bigger pack could have been just what makes everything fit.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2020 18:10:54 GMT
She also wasn't carrying her phone. I understand that you should be prepared for an emergency, but you'd also think your phone would be the first line of defense. Glad to know I'm not the only one with a raised eyebrow - we'll see if anything more comes from this. In a lot of hiking areas, phones don't work. I have a friend who hikes Zion a lot and she gets no cell phone service. She has also had issues with gps tracking devices there, especially in the canyons |
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Olan
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Post by Olan on Oct 19, 2020 18:13:33 GMT
@tallgirl any experienced hiker takes multiple day items even if only going on a small to day hike. Nothing odd about that. The tip throws off my radar though and is making it beep. I hope she wasn't trying to get away from the stress of being a wife and mom. How many others have done this? Her and her daughter had a pretty tight relationship. They did a National Parks trip a month or so before she went missing. I think it may have even been the same trail. I go on day hikes and bring a double hammock and a blanket similar to the one she was found with at the recommendation of an experienced hiker. Better to be safe than sorry. |
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Post by Skellinton on Oct 19, 2020 18:17:17 GMT
She also wasn't carrying her phone. I understand that you should be prepared for an emergency, but you'd also think your phone would be the first line of defense. Glad to know I'm not the only one with a raised eyebrow - we'll see if anything more comes from this. In a lot of hiking areas, phones don't work. I have a friend who hikes Zion a lot and she gets no cell phone service. She has also had issues with gps tracking devices there, especially in the canyons I think it is odd that an experienced hiker wouldn’t have left an itinerary or let someone know where she was going, especially since she was likely in an area where there was no service and she didn’t take her phone. The way it is being reporting is odd, the tip thing was weird to me too. |
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Post by librarylady on Oct 19, 2020 18:27:02 GMT
Whichever station we were watching this AM said that another visitor to the park told Rangers they had seen her in xxx location.
What we find odd:
1. No video or interview after being found...not with her, family or Rangers.
2. No statement from Rangers such as "she was pretty weak and sunburned but will be OK" as well as no statement of where she was taken for medical attention.
3. All other lost hikers that have been gone that long spend a few days in medical treatment.
DH thinks she did it for publicity and donations. I think either publicity or she just wanted to get away from the world for awhile.
But, too much seems "off" for me to believe it.
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schizo319
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Post by schizo319 on Oct 19, 2020 18:30:14 GMT
She also wasn't carrying her phone. I understand that you should be prepared for an emergency, but you'd also think your phone would be the first line of defense. Glad to know I'm not the only one with a raised eyebrow - we'll see if anything more comes from this. I often don't take my phone when I hike. Where I hike, cell phone reception drops off about 20 miles before I ever get to the park, besides, after a day or two, it'd be moot because the battery would be dead. I don't find it odd that she took a multi-day pack, or that her family took her to a hospital (I assume they met the rescuers there and everyone thought that she was stable enough to ride to the hospital with her family instead of authorities - especially if she was confused due to a head injury). The "tip" does seem a little odd to me, if I saw someone in the woods that I knew was missing, I'd probably approach her and say something as opposed to leaving and then telling law enforcement about it, but maybe she was acting odd from the head injury or something and they were afraid or unable to approach her for whatever reason. I'm just glad she was found. |
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Post by katlady on Oct 19, 2020 18:38:07 GMT
I was thinking about the "tip" thing. Here is my theory. Maybe a hiker saw her, did not know she was the missing woman, and probably was in no distress or looked like she needed aid. The hiker went back to the start point, maybe saw flyers or ran into a Ranger who asked if he saw this woman and the hiker said he saw her at XXX location. I am glad she was found, but I just wonder if she was just trying to hide for a while.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2020 18:38:35 GMT
In a lot of hiking areas, phones don't work. I have a friend who hikes Zion a lot and she gets no cell phone service. She has also had issues with gps tracking devices there, especially in the canyons I think it is odd that an experienced hiker wouldn’t have left an itinerary or let someone know where she was going, especially since she was likely in an area where there was no service and she didn’t take her phone. The way it is being reporting is odd, the tip thing was weird to me too. Many of my hiking friends/family dpn't have an itinerary. We just know general area. Depending on conditions, amount of people, ect things change and they hike a different area. |
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Post by papercrafteradvocate on Oct 19, 2020 18:57:39 GMT
They are now reporting that the hiker “hit/bumped her head” and became disoriented.
Still a puzzler though!
“Holly Courtier, who was rescued after disappearing for almost two weeks in Utah's Zion National Park, hurt her head early in her hike and became disoriented, her daughter told CNN on Monday.
"She injured her head on a tree," Kailey Chambers said in a text exchange. "She was very disoriented as a result and thankfully ended up near a water source -- a river bed. She thought her best chance of survival was to stay next to a water source."
It was not clear from the text exchange if the water source was potable, but Chambers said Courtier was without food while she was lost in the park.
"She was too weak and disoriented (to seek help)," she said. "She was unable to take more than a step or two without collapsing. This prevented her from being able to seek out help. She told me she was so dehydrated she couldn't open her mouth."
The malnourished and dehydrated 38-year-old was spending the night in a hospital near Zion, family friend Kelley Kaufman White said hours after Courtier was found Sunday.
Park visitors located Courtier on Sunday in the national park in southwestern Utah and alerted park officials, Kaufman White said. The National Park Service dispatched a rescue team after park rangers received a "credible tip" on her whereabouts, it said.
"She is in good spirits and very thankful for everyone who searched for her, especially the people who found her today and the rangers that rescued her," Kaufman White said.
Chambers saw her mom late Monday morning, and "she is getting her strength back and hydrating. She is still weak but recovering."
"We are slowly introducing foods. Her health remains our top priority," the daughter said. "My mom's recovery is my top priority right now. ... We will continue to focus on her health and will update everyone when possible."
The California woman's relatives said they were overjoyed she'd been found safe and thanked the rangers, search teams and volunteers who lent their time and resources to find her.
"This wouldn't have been possible without the network of people who came together," the statement said.
Courtier was last seen October 6 exiting a shuttle in the Grotto area, which leads to several hiking trails. She is an experienced hiker, knows Zion well and is capable of surviving in the park's rugged conditions, her family has said.
"This was her dream, to see national parks," Chambers said. "She lost her job as a nanny due to Covid-19. The family could not afford to keep paying her. She made that a positive thing, said that gave her the time to get out, see the parks."
Chambers, who became concerned when she hadn't heard from her mother in a week, traveled the almost 500 miles from San Diego to Zion to help find her mom and appealed to other hikers to join the effort.
After park rangers said last week they were calling off the search unless they received new information, Chambers refused to stop looking until her mother was found, she told CNN affiliate KCAL.
"I know she would not give up on me, so I refuse to give up on her," she told the station.
Zion's 232 square miles contain "high plateaus, a maze of narrow, deep, sandstone canyons, and the Virgin River and its tributaries," the park service says. From the highest peak to the lowest canyon is about a 5,000-foot difference.
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Post by Bridget in MD on Oct 19, 2020 19:08:36 GMT
When I read about this last night I was wondering why there was no mention of her condition, or where or how she was found. And then this article that is linked says they received a tip on where she was. A tip?? It is odd. I was wondering why they didn't mention her condition or where she was found too. |
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Post by mom on Oct 19, 2020 19:16:21 GMT
Yeah...my radar is going off on this. Not because of what she packed but the way its being reported -- the tip + the fact her family took her to the hospital instead of authorities. If she was too weak to walk I would think LE would call for an ambulance just as a precaution.
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Post by Mary_K on Oct 19, 2020 19:19:26 GMT
I get a weird feeling about it too - just really odd.
Sure it's great to bring all of those extras "just in case" but not bring a tiny cell phone "just in case"? Even if you don't get reception everywhere, you might pick up something somewhere!
Yeah, I get the feeling there's a lot more to the story.
Mary K
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Post by 950nancy on Oct 19, 2020 19:25:24 GMT
I found it odd, but didn't read anything nefarious into it. Lots of things aren't always explained right away. Perhaps she wasn't sharing what happened yet even though we are so used to hearing a beginning, middle, and almost end in an article. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to hear something weird happened. I just try to wait without reading too much into things.
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Post by Crack-a-lackin on Oct 19, 2020 19:54:48 GMT
The article quoted above has more detail than others I’ve read. I agree the way the story has been reported is odd, especially how they’ve said “a credible tip”.
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Post by papersilly on Oct 19, 2020 20:14:15 GMT
DH and i think there is something odd to this and more will come out.
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luckyexwife
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Post by luckyexwife on Oct 19, 2020 20:26:02 GMT
For some reason, this reminds me of the missing jogger from a few years (?) ago. I don't remember her name, but she went missing, then it appeared she staged it? I don't remember that there was an outcome that I heard.
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Post by ~summer~ on Oct 19, 2020 20:37:58 GMT
As a hiker (usually day hiker) I found a lot of things about this story odd but I haven’t seen many details.
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Post by auntkelly on Oct 19, 2020 21:00:47 GMT
There might be more to the story, but the language "credible tip" doesn't raise any red flags for me. My guess is that when someone goes missing in a National Park people call in all sorts of tips such as "We were there two days ago and saw a man hiking w/ a woman and it was obvious the woman was scared," or "we thought we saw the missing woman, but when we called out to her, she just kept hiking in the opposite direction." Probably most of these tipsters really are trying to help, but the Park Rangers know right away that a lot of the tips aren't going to pan out because the description of the hiker sighted doesn't match the description of the missing woman or the timing is off or something like that. I'm guessing that this was considered a "credible tip" because the description of the hiker matched the missing woman's description, the area of the park was w/in the area where the missing woman was hiking, etc. Like katlady said the hikers who called in the tip might not have even known the woman was missing until they finished their hike and saw the flyers. Also, it could be that the woman was in sight, but they weren't able to get to her (maybe she was on the other side of a river). It could also be that they were scared to approach her. If there is more to the story, I hope the woman gets the help she needs. |
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Post by mom on Oct 19, 2020 21:05:46 GMT
For some reason, this reminds me of the missing jogger from a few years (?) ago. I don't remember her name, but she went missing, then it appeared she staged it? I don't remember that there was an outcome that I heard. Are you thinking of Sherri Papini? |
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Post by malibou on Oct 19, 2020 21:27:13 GMT
My cousin does search and rescue. He said he has never heard of any protocol that doesn't require someone who has been missing that long to go to hospital for a thorough check up. He finds the story a bit suspicious.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2020 21:28:44 GMT
There are a few weird things about the story, but they could be just weird reporting, too. But, as a very experienced hiker, I almost always have my phone with me. Phones don't need service to be tracked. I fully charge mine ahead of time & keep it in airplane mode. We spent the spring and summer all over Zion, and except for when we were in tight/high canyons (like the Narrows) we had GPS if not outright service. We also carry far more supplies than we need for the hike at hand.
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