Idaho hiker's body found after search hampered by government shutdown

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Idaho hiker's body found after search hampered by government shutdown

By Laura Zuckerman
SALMON, Idaho | Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:16am EDT

(Reuters) - The body of a missing hiker has been recovered at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in central Idaho after a month-long search hampered by the recent U.S. government shutdown.

The remains of Jodean Elliott-Blakeslee, 63, were spotted on Tuesday evening during a helicopter search of the vast lava fields at the National Park Service site where she and her hiking partner, Amelia Linkert, were reported missing on September 24.

Searchers last month found Linkert dead from exposure. An Idaho coroner is determining how Elliott-Blakeslee perished, park officials said.

At its height, the search for the Boise-based physician drew helicopters, dog teams and as many 100 individuals from other U.S. parks, but those efforts were scaled back in part because of a congressional budget impasse that halted government operations on October 1. The government reopened last week after Congress passed a temporary spending measure that President Barack Obama signed into law.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/24/us-usa-hiker-idaho-idUSBRE99N05020131024

[Cleita]

1. Craters of the moon. Been there a couple of times. It's pretty desolate.

This is a place where orientation skills would come in handy if you are a hiker. It's not that far removed though from roads and facilities though so this seems like an unnecessary tragedy to me.

[kestrel91316]

2. This is why I never go hiking ANYWHERE without a topographic map and compass.

I do know how to use them, too. I was once a nationally ranked orienteer.

[Cleita]

3. Its a pretty necessary skill IMHO if you venture into the wilderness.

Also my dad taught me how to navigate by the shadows and weather patterns by day and stars by night in the Atacama desert in case I ever got lost. Unfortunately, the southern stars are different from the northern ones, which I don't know as well and there is that problem with weather blocking them out that you don't have in the Atacama so topographic maps and compass are essential.