The woman you see in the photo was named Geraldine Largay, and she was a 66 year old lady who loved hiking
The woman you see in the photo was named Geraldine Largay, and she was a 66 year old lady who loved hiking
In April 2013, Geraldine, along with her 42-year-old husband George, and her friend Jane Lee, took on the Appalachian Trail for a hike.
The trail is about 3,510 km long, making it the third longest hiking trail in the US.
A large portion of the trail is located in the middle of the wilderness.
Due to a sudden family emergency on June 30, Jane Lee had to abandon the hike.
Unfortunately, Geraldine made the tragic decision to continue alone despite her poor sense of direction.
Her friend herself later said that when they were together, Geraldine had risked getting lost several times.
Furthermore, the Appalachian Trail can be difficult even for experienced hikers.
In fact, her husband George was not aware that Geraldine was not ready for such a difficult trail.
Things were going well for Geraldine until June 22nd when she arrived at the Poplar Ridge shelter in Maine.
On the evening of June 21st she was with other hikers including Dottie Rust who, struck by her smile, asked her if she could take a picture of her.
Geraldine was seen alive for the last time at 6:30 on the 22nd, a few hours later more precisely at 11 Geraldine was lost.
The next day George, worried that she was not there on the agreed day when they were supposed to meet again, decided to call the police.
Despite the efforts of both the police and the volunteers, it was not possible to find her.
Making the investigation difficult was not only the huge search area but also the problem of false reports that took away time and energy.
It would take 2 years to find her remains, to be precise it was October 14, 2015.
She was lying inside her sleeping bag and her diary, a notebook with a black cover, was found with her.
The last entry was more or less from August 18, in which Geraldine, now aware that she would die, wrote "when you find my body, call my husband George and my daughter Kerry. It would be the greatest act of kindness for them to know that I am dead and where you found me, regardless of how long it takes from now".
Geraldine had unknowingly ended up in one of the wildest areas of the route so much so that they are used for military training, furthermore the vegetation was so thick that unfortunately it was impossible for the rescuers to find her camp and save her.
Geraldine died of hunger and thirst and at the place where she was found there is a cross.
Her story really touched me because I have always been afraid of walking in the woods because I am terrified of getting lost.
I find Geraldine's death tragic because she unwittingly put herself in a terrible situation with no way out. Continue reading
Comments
Post a Comment