Missing hiker, possibly near Table Mountain

[Bandanna]

Just got back from hiking out there all day and heard the sad news:

http://www.katu.com/news/local/87601962.html

I guess there's a certain landlord who owes a certain friend of Kate Huether a BIG apology.

What a heartbreak for her family and friends and for everyone in the hiking community who has been waiting anxiously for news during the last week.

[pdxflowergirl]

Heartbreaking for her family, but at least they know where she is now and they can start the healing process. My thoughts will continue to be with them until they are able to take their daughter home and she is laid to rest. Thank goodness that local folks kept searching. I know that the Huether family appreciates all of the volunteer efforts over the past week. As always, I am in awe of what communities can accomplish when hope brings them together.

[CherokeeDriver]

I am both saddened and relieved that this story now has at least some type of conclusion -- in particular, I am relieved for her family. And I think there is at least some relief that Kate did not encounter a stranger and somehow become a victim of foul play.

That said, I am still so deeply troubled by aspects of this story as we understand it. I am trying to comprehend how a hiker with her experience would head into the Table Mountain complex at 3 pm during winter daylight, and carry on uphill as far as she apparently did. I did not know her, but I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing that I could have been her hiking companion on that day, with the full bag of day-and-night essentials I always carry on my back.

I summited Table Mountain for the first time just five days before Kate disappeared. I don't think I will ever look at the mountain again and not think of her.

-Robert

[raven]

Robert, I find her trail head timing to be quite reasonable.

In good shape and with some familiarity with the area, pressed for time, wanting an outdoors experience, one has the motivation, capacity and knowledge to get that afternoon workout. So one finishes what one can of the day's inconvenient requirements (leaving barely enough time for the trip), grabs a flashlight and goes for it. At least I have. And according to Don, she had more than adequate time for her trip, if she was in shape.

Experience allows one to shave corners, usually successfully. Close calls, when noticed, are part of the adjustment process on shaving corners. I suspect many of us on this forum could have succumbed similarly to the adjustment process while pushing our limits, no matter the previous amount outdoor experience.

Been near there, more than several times; on skis, foot, and without gear on the spur of the moment. I respect her more for doing the trip than for not doing it.

That she slipped off the edge of a drop may well have been independent of the hour and circumstances of her hike.

Steve

[Grannyhiker]

Cherokee Driver, on the other thread (the one about finding Ms. Heuther's body), Don Nelson has provided an excellent explanation of the timing involved. http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/vie ... a&start=20 My jaw dropped, too, when I first read about the starting time, but Don's explanation is quite reasonable.

[CherokeeDriver]

OK, thanks -- if I have updated comments, I will add them to that thread. I was still under the presumption that Kate was very off-route (based on where the receipt was found), and not on Heartbreak Ridge. It appears that she was on-route after all, so I can see how this was as much a tragic accident as it may have been the result of lack of planning and darkness.

-Robert