I am a believer as I have experienced it.
I don't think the causes reflect a deep mental condition. Rather, it stems from the sudden transition from "having fun" to "lost- and alone".
On the time in question, I "memorized" my map- yeah right, before giving it to another hiker who wanted to turn back. Then.... there was the deliberately twisted trail sign pointing in the wrong direction.
The end result, is that I "tunnel visioned" as dusk started to fall. I literally could not see the over all terrain and could not act on the fact that the trail head was at a lower elevation. I could only see what was in front of me. I wasted time going in repeated circles on a mesa.
Before light faded completely, I made a dash down the mesa, out of the park and to a rural paved road. Fortunately, a friendly rancher gave me a ride to the one stop sign town- civilization at last!
Thank you.
This is something akin to what one seasonal traveler describes. He specifically mentions a psychological phenomenon. I didn’t find any medical articles on hiking disorientation, though.
The R-site has some stories but they seem come from people who have what they call dyspraxia, but incorrectly. All these cases IMHO described a specific wiring of the brain when one needs an additional visual input to feel “ground zero”.
This is also a possible situation. It is similar to fear of heights. For the majority of humans, the impulses from proprioceptors to the cerebellum are enough to give the “ground” sensation, but 10% need “visual input” too. Most of us feel OK inside a hi-rise building, but if floor 32 had a patio or a penthouse there, seeing the vista would make some of us panic. It is not the height per se, it is “vista”. The adjustment would be to look at objects before the face (fingers, eyeglasses, whatever can create additional visual input) to feel “on earth”. Anyone who panics on tall bridges will understand what I am talking about.
What you are describing is somewhat different, it is disorientation from lack of others’ input. I don’t think that Pattie would feel panic on an unknown trail, unless there were no trees around. From the pictures, it seems the trail did have trees, right?
Anyhow, either it was “trail disorientation” because she felt alone, or “trail panic” if the area had high elevation and no trees, right?
In the article about Grand Canyon I linked, 6% of casualties are explained by psychological issues and only 5% fall on dehydration. I assume 6% are not of “serious MH type”, more likely, vista panic?
What could play the role on Kumano Kodo trail? Could it be the “disorienting effect of being alone”, akin to what you describe?
I’d like to see the photos from both trails to understand it better. Hopefully her relatives will post it. (Mostly, we know the physiology of flight disorientation, and the physiology of diving but surprisingly few discussions of trail physiology, and yet we have trail casualties.
Sorry for making it long, I am trying to understand new concepts. If something happened to a seasoned hiker and in a well-traveled area, and it is possible that the factor was natural, we need to understand it better.
