Found Deceased MT- Tatum Morrell, 23, West Fork Trailhead, Carbon Co, 1 Jul 2021

[AmandaSkis]

Like others have written, this hiker was doing the right thing by hiking with a Garmin InReach. I just read a review about this device and supposedly the battery life is "up to 3 years when powered off." So I am stumped as to why there is no transmission from this device (or her cell).

Could she have fallen into water? Would that stop pings?

In-Depth Garmin Inreach Explorer Review – HikingGuy.com

 

[AmandaSkis]

Like others have written, this hiker was doing the right thing by hiking with a Garmin InReach. I just read a review about this device and supposedly the battery life is "up to 3 years when powered off." So I am stumped as to why there is no transmission from this device (or her cell).

Could she have fallen into water? Would that stop pings?

In-Depth Garmin Inreach Explorer Review – HikingGuy.com

 

[Knox]

Carbon County Sheriff's Office - Montana

Red Lodge Search and Rescue along with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office are requesting assistance trying to locate a missing hiker. 23 year old Tatum Morell hiked out on the West Fork Trail Head on the afternoon of July 1st. Last contact from Tatum was around 8:00 p.m. on the evening of July 1st when she checked in with her mother using an InReach device.

Tatum is an experienced hiker planning on hiking to the top of five mountain peaks in the area. Tatum has an orange and grey tent set up in the Shadow Lake area. If anybody has seen Tatum while out hiking this weekend or has any information as to her whereabouts, please contact the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office at (406) 446-1234. Thank you for your assistance!



Many helpful comments at link, also family is posting there also. Praying Tatum experience keeps her hanging on until she can be located, as I don't think she would be out of communication intentionally.

 

[dulcinea]

Is anyone here familiar with this area? My first thought of a non-responsive device was she fell over a steep embankment and the device was severely damaged, the batteries came out, etc. If the device was in her pocket or hand or clipped to her (I don't know how it works) and she fell, I could see it easily becoming separated from her. I am wondering if there are areas of steep drop offs where she was hiking.

 

[mickey2942]

I am familiar with the area, but unsure of her equipment, trail, plan. There are drop offs, areas with gravel, steeper areas. But, it seems like there is literally no idea where she went from her campground or when. And, MOO, an "experienced" hiker, usually leaves a plan, with routes with the ranger, especially if doing backcountry camping.

 

[Knox]

David Paulides@canammissing
Start praying for Tatum Morell right now. She last communicated with her mom, 7/1. If you have our MT book/map, she is lost in the middle of an identified cluster zone.

BREAKING NEWS: Hiker Still Missing
Red Lodge Search and Rescue along with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office are requesting assistance trying to locate a missing hiker. They are 23-year-old Tatum Morell who hiked out on the West Fork...
carboncountynews.com
4:57 PM · Jul 6, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

 

[Knox]

Red Lodge Fire Rescue

Rescue teams from around Montana and Wyoming join in search for missing hiker Tatum Morell.

Red Lodge Fire Rescue Search and Rescue (SAR) and the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office have been joined by Yellowsone County Sheriff, Gallatin County SAR, Big Horn County SAR, Park County, WY SAR, US Forest Service, three search dog teams, and three helicopters to continue the intensive search for 23 year old Tatum “Tate” Morell. The avid hiker planned to hike 5 peaks over 12000’ in the West Fork of Rock Creek drainage. She camped at Shadow Lake on Thursday, July 1 and contacted her mother via an InReach satellite communicator that evening. It is believed that she left her tent Friday and has not returned.

Today, ground teams will search the routes she may have taken to climb the peaks in the area with a focus on Sundance, Bowback, Castle and Whitetail Mountains. These routes are high elevation and relatively technical with car-sized boulders, scree and snowfields. Dog teams will be searching the area around her camp.
Helicopter crews from the National Guard and Two Bear Air searched the area Sunday night though Tuesday evening using visual, infrared camera, cell phone tracking and Recco tracking while ground crews searched the area around her camp and the surrounding lakes.

Tatum is an engineering graduate student at Montana State University-Bozeman and is originally from Idaho. This was her first trip to the Beartooths. She is an experienced hiker who explores terrain like this often and recently accomplished a similar trip in Gallatin County climbing 5 peaks in 5 days. Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan asks that if you may have seen Tate recently or have any information about her plans that you call the sheriff’s office at 406-446-1234.
Carbon Alert Carbon County Sheriff's Office - Montana Custer Gallatin National Forest Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Foundation

 

[Knox]

Red Lodge Fire Rescue

Red Lodge Fire Rescue Continues Search Efforts for Missing Hiker.

Red Lodge Fire Rescue Search and Rescue and the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office are actively searching for lost hiker Tatum Morell. The 23 year old hiked into the West Fork drainage on Thursday, planning to spend 4 nights. It is believed that she left her campsite at Shadow Lake on Friday morning to climb one of the 12000’ peaks in the area and never returned. Her last contact was Thursday evening via a satellite communicator.

Search and Rescue teams from Two Bear Air and the National Guard have been searching the area extensively by helicopter both day and night since yesterday. A ground team has reached her campsite and found no sign of the hiker. Plans to search surrounding peaks and approaches are underway. The terrain is very rugged and remote so ground searches could take some time. Additional area Search and Rescue teams will be joining the search on Wednesday.

Tatum, a 23 year old female is an experienced hiker who explores terrain like this often. She may have been wearing a red jacket and carrying a blue day pack. She has brown hair and brown eyes.

The Carbon County Sheriff's office asks that if you have any information about the whereabouts of Tatum Morell that you call the sheriff’s office at 406-446-1234.

 

[borndem]

If a hiker was to turn their devices off to save some battery life for the trip, which I’ve been known to do, they could have an encounter with a bear or a fall and it would be a bad day. I hope that’s not the case.

Yeah, same here. You want your communication device to last, but you're alone and anything can happen, so what do you do? Turn it off while you sleep? Bears can roam at night... and other critters...
Just hoping she's okay, but it's been (almost) too many days.

And this --

Welcome to Websleuths,
Bob Ross Happy Tree !!​

 

[Knox]

I am familiar with the area, but unsure of her equipment, trail, plan. There are drop offs, areas with gravel, steeper areas. But, it seems like there is literally no idea where she went from her campground or when. And, MOO, an "experienced" hiker, usually leaves a plan, with routes with the ranger, especially if doing backcountry camping.

Zoomable locations mapped - Google Maps

 

[bettyee]

Yeah, same here. You want your communication device to last, but you're alone and anything can happen, so what do you do? Turn it off while you sleep? Bears can roam at night... and other critters...
Just hoping she's okay, but it's been (almost) too many days.

And this --

Welcome to Websleuths,
Bob Ross Happy Tree !!​

That's just it. She was alone. Always go with someone. They're your safety net when something goes wrong. Animal attack, a fall or a bad person. It's been a week so not good.

 

[K9Enzo]

That's just it. She was alone. Always go with someone. They're your safety net when something goes wrong. Animal attack, a fall or a bad person. It's been a week so not good.

I honestly understand your point. However, for some people if they hold off until they have someone to go with, they might not go at all. That stinks.

Not everyone in your social circle will want to stay outdoors for days/nights, hike 5 peaks, pee/dig a cat hole to use the bathroom, eat ok-ish food, not shower for days, have super achy joints/muscles, and consider all of this a great challenge and fun Then you have people who need the solace to feed their souls. IMO

 

[Rotten apple]

I honestly understand your point. However, for some people if they hold off until they have someone to go with, they might not go at all. That stinks.

Not everyone in your social circle will want to stay outdoors for days/nights, hike 5 peaks, pee/dig a cat hole to use the bathroom, eat ok-ish food, not shower for days, have super achy joints/muscles, and consider all of this a great challenge and fun Then you have people who need the solace to feed their souls. IMO

I’m of the thought that folks who go alone do so willingly and have a superior understanding of the inherent risks associated with being back-country solo. I do not consider myself a super experienced hiker so I would not feel comfortable going on an extended trip (overnight) solo but love solo day hiking for the solace and resetting.

 

[Bob Ross Happy Tree]

I’ve completed roughly 1300 miles of solo backpacking, however I’m no expert. I just enjoy being in the backcountry. Cases like Tatum’s always make me think hard about what could happen. It only takes seconds and maybe a not so good decision to be in trouble. I’m praying she’s alive and the rescue team heads in the right direction.

 

[borndem]

Zoomable locations mapped - Google Maps

Wow -- thanks for the maps, @Knox -- lots of area, lots of area -- oh, my. This from and East Coaster, who is unfamiliar with that kind of terrain. I know it exists, we have mountains here in NC, and I have been camping & exploring in some of them -- but this map shows miles and miles of breath-taking peaks & valleys, and it's amazing to imagine so much of it!
Whew -- such beauty and potential danger, too.

 

[mickey2942]

https://www.kivitv.com/news/23-year-old-idaho-hiker-missing-in-montana-mountains

Good grief, that backpack looks way too unbalanced. Hope she wasn't hiking that loaded on the slopes.

 

[Knox]

I’ve completed roughly 1300 miles of solo backpacking, however I’m no expert. I just enjoy being in the backcountry. Cases like Tatum’s always make me think hard about what could happen. It only takes seconds and maybe a not so good decision to be in trouble. I’m praying she’s alive and the rescue team heads in the right direction.

I admire Tatum and others like you. It takes courage to go out solo in these types of places. The payoff as I imagine it - unsurpassed challenge and beauty which can only be found in nature. For me those payoffs are in the Humboldt County Redwoods. I could literally weep at times, the beauty touches my spirit. I joke I'm attending Church in the Redwoods.

Hoping for the best outcome and Tatum is found safe.

 

[GraceG]

Because hiking alone is a meditation, it's de-stressing, it's wonderful.

Since people go missing in urban environments while apparently on simple errands (alone), sometimes I think no one should go anywhere by themselves (which is absurd). Anyway, all my life, I've liked to do things alone and while I wouldn't try to do 5 mountain peaks alone, I sure would have wanted to when I was the age of this young woman.

I did indeed hike alone at her age, and had good friends who also did so, one of them hiked the entire John Muir alone (she was really intrepid) and another hiked 400 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail.

But it has its risks, for sure, and where she was hiking, there's a possibility of grizzly bears. A woman was killed by a grizzly in another part of Montana in the last few days:

Woman killed by grizzly bear while camping in Montana

Hiking at all in grizzly country is not something I'd do.

Tatum is missing in an area not too far from Red Lodge, and apparently there are lots of people hiking out there right now - and she has an InReach device. It's very concerning that she hasn't used it in a week.

The woman killed by the grizzly was storing food in her tent. US woman killed by bear that dragged her from tent in Montana

I'm sure Tatum has some experience in bear country and uses the standard precautions. Hoping she just has a mild injury and is staying put until she is found.

 

[Knox]

The woman killed by the grizzly was storing food in her tent. US woman killed by bear that dragged her from tent in Montana

I'm sure Tatum has some experience in bear country and uses the standard precautions. Hoping she just has a mild injury and is staying put until she is found.

Horrifying story, thanks for sharing. Since they found Tatum's campsite and there was no mention of anything being disturbed, I assume she left safely. Unless there was some sort of human interception.

 

[RumorMonger]

To any more experienced hiker/backpacker:
What do you read into the fact that her tent was apparently left still assembled? Would a person do that if her plan was to do a day hike, basically, and return back to the same spot? Or does that indicate that she left for a shorter trip, such as to go cut kindling or take a picture of the sunrise, with plans to return soon? Or maybe it doesn't tell us anything at all?