Missing Hiker On Maui Found Alive

[Seeb]

Never seen anyone under 50 go anywhere without their cellphone

[randomq]

Yeah, cellphone = camera, 911, flashlight, gps, etc... Not all are waterproof, but in a freezer bag it's close enough.

[Durian Fiend]

quote:

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Originally posted by PaulW

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/25/us/hawaii-hiker.html


She left her phone and her water in her car on purpose, because it was only supposed to be a 3-mile hike..

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Right, because they're more useful when driving than hiking 3 miles.

Another truth is stranger than fiction story.

[MarkD]

A few posters in various places have commented on her lack of judgment.

She's not near as bad as the hiker who got lost on Hawaii Island near Kalapana some years back. The terrain is open, few trees. Walk wherever you want, except hot lava.

4 directions. North, south from Kalapana, makai, and mauka, which rises to 1500 feet. Guy heads south, walking within 1/2 mile ocean (at sea level) and gets lost.

He was found around 1000 feet a few miles inland. Lost for 6 days. Ocean plainly visible from where he was found. That ranks right up there with the head in the blowhole case.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Ocean plainly visible from where he was found.

If it’s the guy I think you’re describing, I knew him.
Afterward he made a point in telling me the newspapers got it all wrong. They reported he was spotted by a rescue helicopter, but he wanted me to know that HE saw the helicopter FIRST. He waved and directed them in.

His clarification probably explained more than intended about what’s lost and found.

[kalianna]

The article I read said that she hiked, then took a nap and when she woke up she was disoriented and didn't know what direction to go. Nothing about the gut instinct.

[Hunt Stoddard]

I think I speak for everyone when I say:
....
How the hell do you get lost on Maui for 17 days?

[bluesboy]

I don’t get it. It almost sounded like she wanted to be lost. A self imposed journey she told no one she was going on.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

How the hell do you get lost on Maui for 17 days?

Another hiker went missing on the west side of Maui about the same time as Amanda Eller. He hasn’t been found yet. The police stop searching after 72 hours. Eller’s family and friends organized and coordinated resources then continued a large privately funded search effort which included helicopters. It paid off.

[ElysianWort]

How the hell do you get lost on Maui for 17 days?

I get it. I understand the questioning because Maui isn't a big island but the forest reserves there are obviously big enough to be lost in. There is currently another missing hiker there now. A male. The trees are older and bigger than many of ours on this younger island. Maybe harder to spot a lost hiker from the air. Fortunately she stayed put in an open place by the waterfalls.

Also keep in mind that she fractured her leg in the initial fall that got her off course. I'm sure that limited her ability to hike right back out.