walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Mar 14, 2016 10:06:31 GMT -8
This is a follow-up to a previous thread (Ranger Rescued After Search for Missing Hiker... bpbasecamp.freeforums.net/thread/1989/ranger-rescued-after-search-missing). In summary: Hua Davis, 61, of Wilmington, Delaware, died hiking MacNaughton Mountain. Forest rangers found her body, and the cause of death was ruled to be hypothermia due to exposure. She was wearing sneakers and fleece sweatpants, and had no emergency gear with her, according to the coroner who handled the case.
NEW INFO
Apparently, her fitness tracker recorded her progress (or lack thereof):
www.lakeplacidnews.com/page/content.detail/id/524950/Fitness-program-tracked-fatal-hike.html?nav=5005
Also mentioned in the article, is that she was saved from a similar fate just last year:
In a trip report posted on [ www.adkhighpeaks.com/forums/forum/other-places-in-the-northeast-united-states/catskill-trip-reports/451941-wet-n-wild-north-dome-sherrill] in early October of last year, a hiker reported meeting Davis in the Catskills while climbing North Dome and Sherrill mountains. The report said she was dressed only in sneakers and sweatpants, and was soaked through. "She explained that on the way up N.D. she took off her raincoat and took off with out it," forum user John Fellows wrote. "She said she backed tracked for 1 mile or so and couldn't find it, but keep going on to Sherrill. "She was soaked to the bone, sweat pants, sneakers, and almost hypothermic! ... I told her she should come with us and we'll give her a ride to her car, which she thought was just dandy." Davis, who went by the screen name Wa Wa on the site, replied, "first time ever SOLO bushwhack on North Dome and Sherrill. I guess, I just selected the BEST DAY!! Thanks for saving my life, without you I don't think I could make it."
HER FAMILY SPEAKS OUT
Volla [Davis' son-in-law] said snowshoes, a sleeping bag and other gear were found in Davis' car at the Adirondack Loj parking lot. She had no survival gear with her while hiking and had become desperate enough to try and start a fire using her gloves. Those gloves, as well as her other clothes, were soaked through and offered little in the way of insulation. Davis had no sleeping bag or space blanket with her.
"You certainly have to be in awe of what she achieved," Volla said. "But behind that is a very, very dark addiction personality. The more adulation you get, the more comments about how amazing (you are) just feeds in to a person that wants to continue to strive.
"What happens is the collision that happened this past weekend of a person who knew how to hike but didn't know how to prepare for a hike. She was successful because she was with a group or was lucky while soloing. And this time her luck ran out.
"She left her family with a tragedy."
Steve [Volla] and Echo [Davis' daughter] fault social media with feeding Davis' dangerous behavior, but like any other addict, Davis tended to pull away from those who had her best interests at heart.
Echo said her mother received admiration on various social media platforms for completing such arduous hikes. She thinks others, including hiking leaders, should have stepped up and told Davis her clothing choices and lack of skills were dangerous. Echo said she had tried to discuss these things with her mom but was met with resistance.
The couple said Davis lacked some basic backcountry skills. She didn't know how to use a map or compass, and relied on her phone for navigation.
The Vollas said they were extremely grateful for the state police and forest rangers who were involved, and commented several times that everyone they had met with was kind and thoughtful. The pair was upset, though, that Davis had put others in danger with her unpreparedness, and stressed that if anything comes out of this tragedy, it's that other hikers learn from Davis and don't repeat her mistakes.
www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/560797/-A-fatal-mistake-.html?nav=5008 |
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Post by Lamebeaver on Mar 14, 2016 12:15:48 GMT -8
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Mar 14, 2016 12:37:01 GMT -8
Thanks. Not sure which forum the article was trying to refer to, so I edited with both listed. |
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Post by Lamebeaver on Mar 14, 2016 12:39:22 GMT -8
I'm not sure either. I couldn't find it in the second link. The first forum doesn't seem to have a search feature, which makes it very difficult to find anything.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2016 12:53:51 GMT -8
I don't mean to be callous here, but that lady sounds like a walking calamity looking for a place to happen. And I guess she found it.
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Mar 14, 2016 12:54:12 GMT -8
I edited the OP to include the direct link to the TR from October 2015.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Mar 14, 2016 18:36:35 GMT -8
I don't mean to be callous here, but that lady sounds like a walking calamity looking for a place to happen. And I guess she found it. That sounds pretty much what her kids were saying. |
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tomas
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Post by tomas on Mar 14, 2016 18:47:57 GMT -8
I'm a bit bothered with "social media" being attacked by her children. It would really depend on the advice or lack thereof she was receiving and the info she was providing, but blaming strangers on the internet for encouraging her??
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Post by graywolf on Mar 15, 2016 4:09:50 GMT -8
I first read about her on reddit.com and yes, some called her the greatest hiker they ever met. link |
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Mar 15, 2016 4:31:44 GMT -8
I'm a bit bothered with "social media" being attacked by her children. It would really depend on the advice or lack thereof she was receiving and the info she was providing, but blaming strangers on the internet for encouraging her?? I don't think the family was blaming strangers on the internet, but social media as a whole. It seems she was severely OCD or similar, and she used social media to fuel that obsession. |
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amaruq
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Post by amaruq on Mar 15, 2016 4:34:14 GMT -8
I first read about her on reddit.com and yes, some called her the greatest hiker they ever met. link"The second time I ever hiked with HuaHua was on a Sunday. She'd spent that Saturday hiking two bushwhack peaks. I hadn't hiked at all that Saturday because there was a huge storm, and there was absolutely no chance that I was going out in the woods with the weather the way it was. At some point during her hike, HuaHua lost her jacket, got mild frostbite and hypothermia, and almost died. She couldn't move two of her fingers because of the frostbite. She was very worn down compared to the first time I'd hiked with her, because of the ordeal that she'd suffered the day before. But she was still the most energetic and powerful hiker in the group, a group which included two guys who do mountain ultra-marathons. Her spirits were so high, she was incredible, she was telling stories about past hikes, she was telling stories from her childhood in China, she was taking pictures, etc. Simply amazing human being. And that hike was 15 miles, about 13 of which was bushwhacking. And she still killed it, despite nearly dying the day before." She certainly seemed to lose a lot of jackets.... |
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Post by Lamebeaver on Mar 15, 2016 5:57:48 GMT -8
The old saying that comes to mind is "There's no fool like an old fool".
Many of us are nearing the point where we may need to start scaling back the ambition of our trips. Some do this with wisdom based on years of experience, and some of us will undoubtedly charge on, refusing to accept and acknowledge our diminished abilities.
Some may argue that this woman was poorly prepared. Her critics would have probably said the same thing about Grandma Gatewood, with her Keds, and her shower curtain knapsack.
Hua Davis died on the side of a mountain doing what she loved. I can think of many worse fates.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2016 7:23:40 GMT -8
I'm not sure if she was doing what she loved or pursuing an obsession that she could not control.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Mar 15, 2016 8:59:02 GMT -8
It's a shame she didn't pick up some basic survival skills along the way. This is an extreme case, but most of us can relate to friends, coworkers and family who think anyone who walks into the woods alone for several days is nuts.
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tomas
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Post by tomas on Mar 15, 2016 9:55:47 GMT -8
I'm not sure if she was doing what she loved or pursuing an obsession that she could not control Sometimes there is a very fine line between the two. |
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