CO Gina Chase, 53, failed to return to her campsite on a nature quest with 11 other hikers, San Miguel County backCounty near Norwood 15 Aug 2024

[StillDiggin]

Search and rescue crews are searching the Lone Cone area outside of Norwood for a missing 53-year-old Durango woman who failed to return to her campsite Wednesday.

According to the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office, the missing woman, Gina Chase, was with 11 campers from an organized group out of Durango and set off for solo journeys into the woods from the Wilson Mesa trailhead in the Lone Cone area on Wednesday morning.


Chase was supposed to check at the group’s main camp but was discovered missing on Thursday. After searching her campsite, guides determined Chase had not slept there the preceding night and that her daypack, which contained an emergency blanket, a whistle, a power bar, and some water, was missing.

The 5’4” tall, 125-pound Chase likely has no cell phone with her because participants were discouraged from bringing one with them on their so-called quests to maximize a spiritual experience with nature, the sheriff's office said.

San Miguel County deputies and search and rescue crews began searching the area Thursday. With assistance from several area agencies, they will continue their search into the weekend.

Woman on nature quest goes missing in San Miguel County backcountry near Norwood

Search and rescue crews are searching the Lone Cone area outside of Norwood for a missing 53-year-old Durango woman who failed to return to her campsite Wednesday.

www.denver7.com

 

[weepingangel]

The 5’4” tall, 125-pound Chase likely has no cell phone with her because participants were discouraged from bringing one with them on their so-called quests to maximize a spiritual experience with nature, the sheriff's office said.

Well, that seems sort of ill advised.
Sounds like she has a few basic supplies, hopefully they’ll find her quickly.

 

[annpats]

A quick Google images search tells us there is a heck of a lot of tree coverage in the Wilson Mesa trail area!
I'm not sure searching with a helicopter or drone will help, I think it'll have to be foot soldiers, on the ground.
Let's hope she is found and soon!

 

[annpats]

An organized group set off for solo journeys into the woods .......participants were discouraged from bringing cell phones with them on their so-called quests to maximize a spiritual experience with nature, the sheriff's office said.

Woman on nature quest goes missing in San Miguel County backcountry near Norwood

Search and rescue crews are searching the Lone Cone area outside of Norwood for a missing 53-year-old Durango woman who failed to return to her campsite Wednesday.

www.denver7.com

BBM.

A solo journey into the woods in Colorado without a cell phone.

What a recipe for disaster!

This kind of thing makes me so angry. You can still have a spiritual experience with nature AND have your cell phone in your pocket for emergencies.

This attitude from the organisers of discouraging cell phones is bordering on negligent!

What provision did they have for emergencies then?! None!

 

[PommyMommy]

Woman, 53, reported missing from "spiritual" camp in southwestern Colorado

The woman was last seen Wednesday morning. She was part of a spiritual group that encouraged solo "quests." Participants were discouraged from bringing electronics and food, according to the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office.

www.cbsnews.com

[...]

"Our team of deputies and Search and Rescue volunteers are working tirelessly to locate this missing woman," San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters said in a statement on Saturday. "While their efforts have not been successful thus far, we remain hopeful that she will be found."

People are being asked to stay away from the area of Lone Cone and refrain from flying drones in the area so as not to interfere with search efforts.

[...]

"The area we are talking about is not all that large but it's extremely dense, and with rough terrain, a lot of dense underbrush, dense trees, and it's just very difficult for that reason," Susan Lilly, a spokeswoman for the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office, told CBS News Colorado. "We have a lot of agencies participating. We have air resources and were just not coming up with anything."

[...]

 

[borndem]

Hoping for good news soon. Glad to see that people are already searching for her or for clues to find her.
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Hoping that I am not way off track with this article about Lone Cone Peak:
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Hiking Norwood’s Iconic Lone Cone Peak​

Overview​

Standing at 12,614 feet, Lone Cone Peak is the westernmost peak of Colorado’s San Juan Mountain range. The extinct volcano, which formed approximately 65 million years ago during the San Juan’s volcanic geologic history, is Norwood’s most prominent, local landmark.

The nearly five-mile round trip climb up Lone Cone Peak isn’t for the faint of heart and isn’t recommended for novice mountain climbers. Those who summit are rewarded with 360-degree views of the Four Corners region and mountain ranges including the Sneffels Range near Ridgway, CO, Wilson Range in the Lizard Head Wilderness between Telluride and Rico, CO, the La Plata Mountains near Durango, CO, Sleeping Ute Mountain near Cortez, CO, the Abajo and La Sal Mountains of southeast Utah and the Chuska Mountains of northeast Arizona.
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more info here:

Hiking Norwood’s Iconic Lone Cone Peak

norwoodcolorado.com

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[FoxxTraxx]

This attitude from the organisers of discouraging cell phones is bordering on negligent! What provision did they have for emergencies then?! None!

I remember back in the '90s there was a lot of disagreement about brining electronic devices into the wilderness. Some thought the devices would ruin the 'back-to-nature' experience and feared people would be chatting on their phones too much.

I remember some hikers brought cells phones on trips but kept them hidden deep in their backpacks to avoid disputes! Others felt the technology could be lifesaving and reduce the chances of a very bad experience, as well as aid with navigation. I thought by 2024 virtually everyone was OK with having the technology.

 

[BrownRice]

So nobody in this organized spiritual group noticed she didn’t come back on Wednesday?

 

[RedHaus]

So nobody in this organized spiritual group noticed she didn’t come back on Wednesday?

While I'm not clear, it appears this quest, or perhaps the first phase of the quest, might have been an overnight venture. It seems to me, from what little we know, that each person had a designated campsite. How else would the organizers have known where to initially look for GC?And why would you have a campsite for just an afternoon hike on Wednesday?

Further, why would the organizers expect to find her daypack at the campsite and declare it missing? The obvious assumption could be that both GC and her daypack are missing. Did she ever make it to her campsite? Was there any evidence she had been there (e.g. natural bedding?, a pee spot found by dogs)?

And if she had been at her campsite, where did she go from there? Did she go missing upon her return to the trailhead for the Thursday check-in? If she had a whistle in her day pack then either she is too far away for anyone to hear her whistle (that distance anyone?) or she could be too incompacitated to whistle.

Lastly, I wonder about the other 11 people on the quest. While I doubt foul play at this point - no reason to consider that from what we know - I'd think LE would need to investigate all possible angles.

All that said, I hope GC is found tomorrow and has quite a tale to tell her friends. And I hope the organizers change their unsafe phone policies for their quests.

 

[PommyMommy]

AUG 17, 2024

53-year-old camper 'discouraged from bringing phone on trip' missing in Colorado | OutThere Colorado

Gina Chase, a 53-year-old woman, has gone missing during a camping trip near Norwood, according to the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office.

denvergazette.com

[...]

Chase was last seen on August 14 [Wednesday] around 11 a.m. by the Wilson Mesa trailhead in the Lone Cone area outside Norwood. Eleven campers from an organized group out of Durango set out for solo adventures into the woods from the Wilson Mesa trailhead on the afternoon of August 14.

[...]

...Chase's "buddy" arrived at the main camp on August 15 [Thursday] and reported that she had not checked in. One of the group's guides searched Chase's campsite and found that her daypack was missing.

Chase's "buddy" arrived at the main camp on August 15 and reported that she had not checked in. One of the group's guides searched Chase's campsite and found that her daypack was missing. ...

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Missing Woman:Gina Chase, 53 yr-old female, 5’4”, 125lbs., unknown clothing description, possibly wearing a purple rain jacket. Last scene Wednesday, August 14 at approximately 11am by the Wilson Mesa trailhead in the Lone Cone area outside of Norwood. (more)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1824880786920665213

 

[azure]

The cheapest satellite communicators run about $150 and are often on sale. The plans required to use them cost as little as $15 per month. If you're sending (I'm assuming paying) adults on an "organized nature quest" and discouraging phones, it would be wise to encourage (or require) SOS devices.

I hope that this program is publicly named and policies are changed in the future.

 

[PommyMommy]

AUG 18, 2024

Woman, 53, reported missing from "spiritual" camp in southwestern Colorado - KTVZ

By Austen Erblat, Jasmine Arenas Click here for updates on this story SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, Colorado (KCNC) — Search and rescue officials are looking for a woman in southwestern Colorado who was reported missing from a camp near Norwood. Gina Chase was last seen around 11 a.m. Wednesday and...

ktvz.com

The sheriff’s office identified the group Chase was with as the Animas Valley Institute. On its website, the group says it was founded in 1980 and organized as a nonprofit organization since 1998 and offers “intensives, Quests, yearlong immersions, wilderness pilgrimages and trainings.”

“This contemporary enactment of the pancultural vision fast is a dynamic wilderness rite for men and women seeking greater depth and clarity about life purpose and meaning,” the group says on its website. “As a rite of initiation, the quest is a ceremonial descent to the underworld, in which you die to your familiar way of belonging to the world, uncover the passion and wisdom of your soul..."

 

[Knox]

Animas Valley Institute offers multi-day, experiential explorations into wild landscapes and into the wilds of soul with the goal of discovering the meaning and destiny at the heart of each life. We are guides to the initiatory journey — the descent into the mysteries of nature and psyche where the husk of outgrown ego-identity is shed; where tricksters, demons, and perhaps angels are encountered; and from which a new self emerges as a vessel for one’s distinctive genius and world-transforming gifts. Although our work evokes non-ordinary perception and ways of knowing, it is not shamanism, nor is it primarily rites of passage, wilderness-based psychotherapy, or emotional healing. Our immersions are not designed to transcend the ego, solve everyday personal problems, or help people better adjust to — or be happier in — the flatland of contemporary Western culture. Rather, our intent is a deep-structure shift that matures the ego and elicits each person’s most creative, soul-rooted response to our critical, liminal moment in the unfolding of the world’s story — on the threshold of a future shaped by those who can see beyond our own time. https://www.animas.org/about-us/our-organization/what-we-do/

I'll preface this by saying I quickly looked at the group's webpage, no deep dive. But I'm concerned about the "solo quest" aspect of this group. I get the solitary experiential aspect, but what was their fail-safe protocol beyond the "buddy system"? Is this the first person who has ever went missing from one of their soul initations?

We're four days in and Gina still hasn't been found, when did rescue operations actually begin?

https://www.animas.org/faq/

 

[Knox]

News - Covering Colorado First

Missing woman found alive and uninjured in southwestern Colorado​

A 53-year-old woman has been found alive and uninjured after four days alone in the southwestern Colorado backcountry, according to the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office.

Gina Chase, of Victoria, Canada, was found Sunday after dozens of deputies and search and rescue personnel combed the area of Lone Cone outside Norwood on the ground and from the air. Chase was part of a group led by the Animas Valley Institute from Durango.

 

[annpats]

So nobody in this organized spiritual group noticed she didn’t come back on Wednesday?

It said they were going on 'solo hikes' , so they would probably be arriving back at different times.

Interesting nobody saw her injured on the trail.

Was she slow, because of an injury, or not feeling good and was the last person?

Why did they not have a marshall follow them to check no-one was left behind afterwards?

Presuming they all followed the same route, that is!!

 

[weepingangel]

News - Covering Colorado First

Missing woman found alive and uninjured in southwestern Colorado​

A 53-year-old woman has been found alive and uninjured after four days alone in the southwestern Colorado backcountry, according to the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office.

Gina Chase, of Victoria, Canada, was found Sunday after dozens of deputies and search and rescue personnel combed the area of Lone Cone outside Norwood on the ground and from the air. Chase was part of a group led by the Animas Valley Institute from Durango.

Great news !!

And from that link - and after seeing that fasting can be part of these activities (according to the AVI site)


“Obviously this is the outcome we were all hoping for, and we couldn't be happier for Ms. Chase and her family," San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters said. "You should always bring technology for communications. Furthermore, you should not starve yourself even if a 'guide' service suggests the opposite of these basic safety rules. Nature does not care about your safety and will kill you if you are not properly prepared."