Young woman hiker rescued after becoming lost

From: http://www4.fosters.com/News2003/May2003/May_19/News/reg_nh0519b.asp

HART’S LOCATION, N.H. (AP) — A Columbia University student, hiking with her father and brother, became lost in the White Mountains for about 11 hours before she was found safe at 2:30 Sunday morning.

Laura Coradetti, 20, was found by Fish and Game officers sitting on a rock in the dark, cold and hungry, a few hundred yards off the trail, Fish and Game Sgt. Jim Goss said. It took another 90 minutes to walk with her the four miles back to Route 302, he said.

Coradetti, an inexperienced hiker, had no gear or light.

She had begun hiking with her father, Thomas Coradetti of Princeton, N.J., and her brother, who is in his mid 20s. However, after about an hour, she began having stomach pains and turned back to return to the car at about 3 p.m. while her father and brother continued on to hike Mt. Crawford, Goss said.

When she began to feel better, she tried to catch up with the other two, but missed the turn to Mt. Crawford.

Father and son returned to find her missing, searched for a while and then called for help at about 8 p.m. , Goss said. Three Fish and Game officers began searching at about 9:30 p.m. and she heard them calling five hours later.

SO father & brother left behind sister/daughter age 20 who had little to no hiking experience alone in the woods not feeling good so they could bag mighty Mt. Crawford.

Wonder what my wife would say if I call her in 17 years with a similar story & tell her how father & son tackled a mountain that my daughter could not but in the process we lost her?

Single novice 20 year old in woods not feeling good but about a mile or less from the road. hmmm

Father & brother left a family member not feeling well alone? What if instead of feeling better (& then trying to catch up) she took a turn for the worse & needed to be carried out & required medical attention. I've left people who were fine but tired or not interested in hitting the summit but not someone feeling poorly,

This goes to show that the majority of "incidents" as I call them usually start with one bad decision. Very often, this decision is made while ignoring other cautious options under the mistaken belief that the risks do not apply to that case. (ie. It's an easy trail, they'll get back to the car ok, it's only a stomach ache, there's plenty of daylight left, the bad weather will hold off).

I approach each hike with one overall goal in mind: I will not be an article that appears in the newspaper later to be quoted on the hiking boards. :wink:

-T

It is so easy to loose sight of the major priorities when you have goal like bagging a peak or getting X number of miles done.

It's been my rule when I hike with my kids, or with any one I take responsibility for - to with stick the person who is having the hardest time and not the one who is doing what I'd most like to do myself. This is a good reminder for me to continue to abide by that rule.

I agree pedxing, when taking groups out, I like being the sweep, not the leader.