I suspect most here have at one time or another been disoriented. I've had experiences in heavy snow/fog/darkness where I've inadvertently done a circle or not known my precise location. With knowledge of the terrain, however, I knew I'd eventually encounter fences, roads, streams, rims, drainages, ridge tops, railways, or even an ocean that would get me oriented.
I an area I've often frequented in dense fog, five bird hunters were once into their third day before being inadvertently found. If one does not consult a map in an unknown region, they likely have no knowledge of the features that can help them get oriented.
One would think most experienced hikers would equip themselves with such knowledge as well as the resources to endure or extricate themselves from such situations. Obviously this lady was short on knowledge and may not have had the will to survive either. Short of a journal, we will likely never know.
A lesser scale local situation from years ago: A traveling couple stopped on a winter's evening at one of our remote rest areas here in SE Oregon. The facility is nothing more than a fiberglass outhouse situated by a highway turnout accessing a huge sagebrush flat. One has to walk a path about 40 yards from the parking area to access the toilet. We were enduring a winter inversion with persistent fog and subzero temps. The lady exited the outhouse, missed the path in the fog and darkness, and wandered out into the elements to perish from hypothermia a couple miles out. Her mistake was she kept going as opposed to stopping to await a call or signal from her concerned spouse.
One does not leave the rig for a roadside toilet with a compass, map, GPS, sleeping bag, matches, and some shelter in hand. Still though, I can understand how even a trivial aside can have serious consequences in a remote area. Readings of some of the early Antarctic materials often mention near catastrophes for ventures involving only a few yards.
Back on subject though, it still seems amazing one could not reason there way out of the subject situation when they endured for so long.
Last edited by 1minute; 05/27/16.
