So in reading through the thread, seems like there is conflicting information about her heading to Hermit Trail or Bright Angel... Hermit Trail, if I'm reading everything correctly, requires a back country permit and has a gate with a coded latch? Not that she couldn't have scaled it or gone around it, but I can't find anywhere that mentions her actually having a back country permit. It does look like a challenging hike, and has some rock scrambles, etc.
It looks like the weather was clear that day, high of 62 F / low of 21 F, although that would be at the rim. Descending into the Canyon it gets warmer, is my understanding. If she was on Hermit Trail instead of Bright Angel, then I'd expect it to be less traveled. There is an
interesting mapof all of the reported deaths in the grand canyon from the book mentioned earlier. Looking at the area around the Hermit Trail, there are a few suicides from the rim and the upper portion of the trail, then as you get into the canyon, heat exhaustion deaths (seems less likely given the weather) then a few drownings related to the Hermit Rapids. I notice that in a couple of the cases bodies were found years after the accident or suicide, so although it seems likely that birds / wildlife activity might have helped locate a body, if it were sufficiently stuck in a crevice / underhang, etc, it might not be noticed. In the summer, they recommend if you are going to hike it to do so at night on a full moon so the trail is well lit. Still, she was supposed to catch a plane, so that shouldn't have been her plan... also it was still below freezing at night then, and very little moon light on that night.
A few things bother me. One is that this is described in the Univision articles as her "first big solo trip" at 22 years old. It seems a very very short duration trip to travel such a long distance, and not a long time to spend at the Grand Canyon. I also find it a little surprising that at 22yo she had never taken any other "big" trips by herself - but that could be a cultural or situational thing so I don't want to judge.
A lot of the place names related to the tribes and what not are duplicated or used multiple times in the canyon area, so I'm not sure what to make of the Bright Angel / Supai information. They are very distant from each other. It could be that she got confused or was writing down possible itinerary stops or things to do. I can't figure out why it was all about Hermit's Trail at first, then Bright Angel is what is mentioned.
The other detail that bothers me is the buying a t-shirt and post cards. That is always the last thing I do when at a park, because I don't want to carry those items around, especially if I'm going on a hike. Maybe it is just me, but that makes me think she made those purchases then left the park. The park store is at the visitor's center in the central area of the South Rim with parking / shuttles / etc. Unsure of the timing of those purchases with her final text, etc. I am hoping that she simply decided for whatever reason to leave and not go back home, and she is fine somewhere, and that she will come around and finally contact her family to let them know she is ok... but I can't shake the feeling that if she did attempt a hike down into the canyon that something has happened and she simply hasn't been found yet. I would be curious to know where the last cell phone ping was that the NPS mentions.
Also, with regards to clothing / items / trash... when I was at the park recently, I picked up and disposed of a lot of trash that I found along the trails. It is a busy season for the park and I'm sure that contributed to it, but I found several single flip flops, empty plastic water bottles, small pieces of trash... I can't help but think that if you were lost, or if something happened, any small pieces of trash left near a trail, or other "trace evidence", would likely get picked up and disposed of by another hiker without a second thought.
Just my two cents. Hope she is found soon.
docbh
