Hi RedHaus, sorry I can't go with that theory I'm afraid. Her missing possessions would surely have been apparent when LE searched the van and would have sent the investigation in a different direction. And to disappear voluntarily and leave all your stuff, and not let your family know? I know that sometimes can happen but seems very unlikely in this case IMO.
When I came up with that idea, I had a little different scenario. If I were going up the Pic, I would drop off my full pack at the Port, perhaps taking the lid with a few necessities including water. Unladen, I could scamper up the Pic quick as a whip. With those exposures, this would have been a lot safer because balance would be better, too. For me, it would be a matter of moving unencumbered. I'd be up there 5 minutes, and scamper back down.
I'd also have absolutely zero interest in making the Pic climb solo.
But I also don't think ED took all the equipment listed in the dossier. Plus, I think she took other items not on the list. MANY other items. Note: there are no socks on the list (there should have been 2 pairs in the pack) and the blue tarp she carries (which would be absolutely essential) was also not on the list.
I believe the dossier equipment list is the couple's standard "packing list", organized on a spreadsheet with weights; it doesn't represent final realities, though. A list like this is often prepared while in the planning stage to satisfy yourself that your pack is a reasonable weight. How do I know? Because whoever wrote the list didn't weigh the sundries. Without the sundries, the list is wishful thinking, not reality. Been there, done that.
Are you aware, for instance, that a UK passport weighs 2.7 ounces? That even if you take a cut-off toothbrush and half a sample-size toothpaste, you're at about 3 oz? Toilet paper, even if you remove the cardboard roll, maybe 2 oz and then you'd likely put it in a baggie, and that would be another 1/2 oz. A few coins, a few bills, credit cards, baggie for those, first aid, matches, lighter..........! Tent weights don't include stakes or guys or the stuff sack, either, so you have to add those.
The gear list looks exactly like a pre-planning spreadsheet.
Anyway, in the pre-planning stage, weight spreadsheets are reassuring. They are also a competitive venture (people brag about their low pack weights). But when you get to the trailhead, your spreadsheet is DEFINITELY not reality, as you will figure out a couple of steps after hoisting the pack.
Short story, if she took the whole list, ED's pack likely had 5 lbs more weight than listed (if she followed protocol and accounted for a solo winter trip, maybe even more), plus food and water, and we haven't had any statement one way or the other about equipment left behind. I don't think we can assume she took everything.
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When I'm doing a pack fit for someone, I put weight in the pack so I can tell how the pack is sitting on their body. I regard this as essential. I check how they move and what they unconsciously fiddle with when it's on (to figure out if I can adjust it out). I never, ever, ever tell the person how much weight I put in the pack, though, because they'd have a heart attack. Almost invariably, they think the pack weighs 25-30 lbs. Actually, I only add about 10. LMAO.
At any rate, another reason I don't think ED took all the equipment on the dossier list: from the way it sits on her body, her pack is not heavy enough to contain all that weight.
