Lost Hiker Found After Intensive Evening Search

[hikeaz]

Chiricahua National Monument- With National Park Service employees taking the lead, 30 searchers from four agencies and the crew of an infrared-equipped helicopter searched for four-and-a-half hours before rescuing an unprepared woman from below freezing temperatures and a night out in the wilderness. The 57-year-old woman left her van for a short day hike a little before noon that day. A protection ranger conducting a trailhead sweep found her van still at the trailhead at 5:30 p.m. He looked through the van’s windows and determined that it belonged to a solo hiker who would want to be back before dark. When she did not return by dark, the park launched a search. Teams of searchers from all divisions of Chiricahua began the operation and were joined by searchers from Fort Bowie, Coronado, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Border Patrol and by a SAR helicopter from the Arizona Department of Public Safety. NPS employees found the woman around 10 p.m. She was exhausted and in the early stages of hypothermia. She told her rescuers she knew she would not have survived had they taken much longer to find her.

[SuperstitionGuy]

It's unfortunate Maricopa & Pinal County can't respond likewise in it's Wilderness areas. :STP: :whistle:

But this organization can!
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_so ... g-utah-man

[azbackpackr]

Can you make that link clickable for us?

[big_load]

@SuperstitionGuy Ahh, that's very interesting. I figured they were found by somebody that was intentionally looking.

On the original topic, I'm glad they found her OK. I assume she couldn't find her way back to the van.

[rally_toad]

It's unfortunate Maricopa & Pinal County can't respond likewise in it's Wilderness areas.

Really the reason that this search likely ended so well is because this is a day use only area that is well patrolled by the NPS. Immediately when there is still a car parked at the trailhead after sunset they were able to organize and start a search.
Would you like it if they made the Supes day use only because a few hikers get lost every year?

The wildernesses in Maricopa and Pinal County are much bigger than Chiricahua National Monument and aren't as well patrolled as the monument.

SAR and law enforcement agencies are already stretched thin, so to blame one counties emergency responders doesn't really make sense, especially since we are talking two very different sets of circumstances.

Plus when you think about it, when it comes to the lost hikers in the Superstitions who were recently found, no agency or organization was "successful", since the ultimate goal is to find lost hikers ALIVE and get them out safely.

[big_load]

Really the reason that this search likely ended so well is because this is a day use only area that is well patrolled by the NPS.

I think so, too.