A 72-year-old Tucson woman and her dog survived nine days in the wilderness of the White Mountains, thanks to her quick thinking and survival skills.
Ann Charon Rodgers left Tucson March 31 to travel to Phoenix to visit her grandchildren, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Rodgers got lost on a remote stretch of a back-country road near Canyon Creek on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. She then ran out of gas and depleted the charge in her hybrid vehicle.
Authorities say Rodgers then climbed several ridge lines to try to get a cell phone signal.
I had made the decision that I could go no further, Rodgers said. I was losing too much focus.
When that failed, she found shelter, water and food.
For the next nine days, she and her dog survived by drinking pond water and eating plants.
She even built a distress signal, using sticks and rocks she found on the canyon floor to spell out the word, "help."
On April 9, a tribal Game and Fish officer found Rodger’s dog walking out of the Canyon Creek area.
An air crew spotted Rodgers' distress signal and found a hand-written note on a rock, indicating Rodgers had run out of food and water and was proceeding down the canyon.
The rescue team discovered a shelter abandoned by Rodgers, and found her a little further down the canyon, standing next to a signal fire and waving to the helicopter.
I was sobbing, Rodgers said. Of course, I had been waving my big red bag around like crazy.
DPS said Rodgers was suffering from exposure, but was in fair condition and able to walk to and board the helicopter with little assistance. She was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Payson for treatment. But now she's doing OK.
Enjoying every moment, Rodgers said. Loving the food I'm eating for darn sure and saying thank you.
Rodgers said she learned how to live off the land after taking some survival courses.
http://www.kttn.com/72-year-old-grandmother-rescued-after-nine-days-lost-in-arizona-forest/
>>38488
>hybrid vehicle.
Well it appears natural selection has failed to claim this woman.
>>38488
>>38518
>Hybrid vehicle
Although I'm happy she was found, it sounds like she walked very far away from where her car was. The first thing you do when lost is remain in your location.
I'll bet that she would have been found in 24-48 hours if she stayed with her car, instead she exhausted herself climbing hills and carting around rocks and logs to spell "Help" like she was in the movie castaway.
Stay with the car on a remote access road and get rescued by hunters, offroaders or prospectors almost immediately.
>>38532
Without water you might not survive 48 hours, depending on the climate. For an elderly person, maybe not even a full day. If you don't know how long you're going to be in a situation like that and you don't have any water with you, you should start looking for water immediately. Looking for cell signal is also not a bad idea if nobody knows you're missing.
If you're hiking or something and people know to look for you if you don't come back and you've got enough water to ration for a while, then staying put is the right reaction to getting lost. In this situation, though, looking for water and radio signal makes sense.
>>38518
gas/electric hybrid is objectively superior to gas-only in every possible way except for initial cost.
>>38555
>If you don't know how long you're going to be in a situation like that and you don't have any water with you, you should start looking for water immediately.
He says spitting in the face of every survivalist guide on the planet.
>>38488
only in tucson... god that city is so boring
I know she's elderly but 9 days doesn't sound that long...
>>38555
Yeah, it's even superior in faggotry!
>>39075
10/10, how was school honey?
>>39075
Anon, this isn't /pol/, we try to have real discussions here.
That's the reason there was a push for this board in the first place.