Hiker Goes Missing in the Hawaiian Forest for Weeks Without Supplies

The Hawaiian Islands are magical pieces of paradise. Each one has it’s own unique foliage, beaches, and hiking trails. Many people flock here to lay on the beaches and explore the natural wonders that are on offer. For one woman, she had dreamed of hiking through the Makawao Forest Reserve. It has waterfalls, massive trees, and animals like wild boar skittering around it. She knew that this would be the trip of a lifetime, and had been planning her hike for a number of months. This hike would prove to be something rather different than what she had expected it to be though.

Looking for an adventure

At 35, this woman knew that she was ready to challenge herself both mentally and physically and an extreme hike on an island in Hawaii seemed like the perfect answer.

As a yoga instructor, she was already pretty fit, but she had not done a lot of hiking in her life. The spring of 2019, would see her wandering through the undergrowth of Makawao Forest, and simply trying to find a way to survive.

The Makawao Forest Reserve

The Makawao Forest Reserve is found on the island of Maui. Maui itself is known as the ‘Valley Isle,’ and it has an amazing humpback whale migration each year.

This was not the reason she chose Maui, though. The Makawao Forest Reserve, which spans 2,000 acres, contained everything she needed for a solid hike. For this particular person, it wasn’t a good hike unless she was able to challenge herself physically. The Reserve features a lot of switchbacks, deep ravines, and undergrowth that needs to be cut away. If a hiker strays off the paths, then they may never be seen again. That is how dense the undergrowth is.

A Solo Adventure

As she planned for this adventure, she overlooked some key points. On May 8th, 2019, she drove out to the Reserve and got her gear ready for the day hike. She assumed that cellphone reception would not be available in the Reserve. This assumption led her to leave her cellphone in her car.

Hiking by yourself, especially in an area you have never been to before, can be quite dangerous. You don’t know the terrain, and without a phone or another device like a GPS, the possibility of getting lost is quite high. Before this hike was finished, she would make a lot more mistakes than leaving her cellphone behind.

3-Miles Turns Into Days

The woman was ready for a day hike. She had enough water with her for the 3-miles she was supposed to walk. A couple of granola bars and some fruit were also in her backpack.

As she walked, she saw waterfalls, colorful birds, and a variety of rocky outcroppings. After hiking for a couple of hours, she decided to take a break at one of these outcroppings. The problem was that after resting in an area slightly off of the trail, she could not remember where the trail itself was. Trusting her innate sense of direction, she went to the area she believed the trail was.

Lost

After walking in this direction for about half an hour, she came to the realization that she was lost. The path failed to materialize in front of her. Instead, the rainforest stretched out for miles in front of her.

This was the moment she began to be afraid. All she had were the contents of her daypack and no way of contacting the outside world. She hoped she would be able to find her way back to the path, or even out of the Reserve itself.

Hours Turn To Days

Everywhere she looked, she saw green trees and birds flying around. It was paradise, but a paradise she did not know how to leave.

She first entered the rainforest mid-morning on May 8th and continued wandering around, trying to find the path until around midnight. After that first day, she accepted that she might be in the rainforest for some time. All she had was what she was wearing and whatever she could use from her backpack. The nights were long, and during the day, it was incredibly hot. She would need to survive this tropical paradise turned nightmare.

Survival Instincts

The thing that all humans and animals need to survive is water and she knew that without water, she would have no chance of making it out of this situation alive. As she was in a rainforest that experienced frequent rainstorms, water would not be a problem.

Searching for water was relatively easy, but she was concerned that nobody knew she was missing yet. She hoped her family or friends had become concerned when they had not heard from her for three days.

An Unexpected Injury

After finding water, she thought that her situation would improve. Unfortunately, this would lead to an even more terrifying situation. As she walked through the rainforest, she found herself losing her footing and sliding right over the edge of a cliff.

The 20-foot drop caused her to break her leg and tear ligaments in her knee and now she was injured to the point where it seemed unlikely she would be able to walk at all.

Starvation

Getting lost in a rainforest in Hawaii, is not something anyone can really plan for and she did not know what to eat. She hoped that the plants she was eating weren’t poisonous, but she had to eat something, or she would die of starvation.

As she could no longer walk, she began to crawl as best she could along the river. The river was her water source, and she hoped that someone would find her along with it.

Staying Warm

As soon as the sunset, the warm daytime temperatures would drop dramatically. She found herself shivering at night and had to find creative ways to keep warm. The foliage found in the rainforest, like banana leaves, and ferns acted as her blankets.

One night was particularly cold, and an empty wild boar den looks very inviting. She risked a run-in with a boar and hoped that she would be safe for the night. Luckily, the boar was out for the evening.

The Search Party

While she was fighting for her life, Reserve rangers had found her car. Everything had been left inside, which made it look like she might have been kidnapped. Search parties had been formed to find her, and they began to spread out through the Reserve.

Bulletins had also been issued by the authorities asking if anyone had seen her. They had failed to find any clues in the rainforest as to her whereabouts.

Human Remains

Wild boars are notorious for eating anything they come across, and that includes meat. The search teams were concerned that she might have passed away, and been devoured by the wild boar population.

To make sure that the wild boar population of the park had not been eating anything human, they began to cull the population and check their innards for any indicators that they had come in contact with a human. No remains were found during the testing process.

A Reward

Many people, including her family, were convinced that she was the victim of a kidnapping. In an effort to get the ‘kidnappers’ to come forward, her family offered a $50,000 reward if someone knew about what had happened to her.

As she was alone in the rainforest, no one was able to come forward with any real details about what had happened to her. It had now been a couple of weeks since she had gone missing.

A Helicopter

After the cash reward was announced, she looked up at the sky and saw a helicopter flying in the mist. The helicopter seemed to be flying quite low as if it was looking for something or someone.

She hoped that this meant that she was about to be saved. After a diet of moths, and various plants, she was skin and bones. Her leg was beginning to get infected, and she badly needed medical attention.

Spotted

It was as if all of her prayers had finally been answered. The helicopter flew down even lower, and she was able to wave at it from her position next to the river. The pilot indicated that they had seen her. She was going to be saved. Everything she had done to survive had all led up to this moment.

She finally felt like she could breathe a sigh of relief. Her body and her mind had gone through quite the ordeal.

The Aftermath

After being airlifted out of the rainforest, and brought to the emergency room, doctors began to examine her. In the almost three weeks she had been missing, she had lost just under 20 pounds, had second-degree sunburns, and all of the injuries associated with her leg.

It was time for her to receive some much needed medical care and be reunited with her family, who had been desperately searching for her. She was a survivor.

The Rescuer

The man who found her was a man named Javier. He had a gut feeling that she had somehow wandered even further from the trail than everyone initially thought. He looked at the river as her water source and told the helicopter pilot to follow it in the hopes they would find her.

Luckily, that gut feeling paid off, and that was exactly where she was found. Javier had a special connection to her, which made him want to find her even more.

A Personal Connection

While she taught yoga, she also worked as a physical therapist with the United States military veterans. Javier was one of the veterans she had worked with.

He had been a former soldier in Afghanistan and Iraq. After he was injured, he was placed with the woman, who worked with him tirelessly for three years to regain his mobility. When he heard she was missing, he knew that he needed to help find her.

Missing

Javier remembered the day he heard she was missing. As they had worked so closely together for three years, she had become someone special to him. He could not let something happen to her when he had a specialized skill set that would allow him to find her.

It was a team effort, but ultimately it was thanks to Javier and his feeling that he knew where she was. If he had not told the pilot to fly over that area, she might not have been found.

Saying Thanks

Hundreds of people set out to find her. After making it to the hospital and being looked after, she was ready to make a statement. She acknowledged all of the people who had worked tirelessly to find her.

Everyone admitted that it was a miracle that they had managed to find her. Most of them had nearly given up hope. The conditions she had to survive in were by no means easy, and with an injury, she was basically immobile.

Never Give Up

The womans survival is thanks to everyone who helped to search for her, but also herself. Not once did she tell herself she was going to die. She never gave up. Every day she woke up and told herself that she was going to get through this.

This perseverance in the face of insurmountable odds definitely helped to keep her alive. There are some things she will do differently going forward should she choose to hike again.

Always Be Prepared

When getting ready to go hiking, always pack a small survival kit. This can include waterproof matches, a compass, and an emergency blanket. These are all very small items, and they can save your life if you get stranded somewhere.

Going forward, she will be sure always to pack exactly what she needs to survive. She never wants to be in this situation ever again, but she can definitely be better prepared now.

Know Your Plants

Now that she is safe and sound with her family and friends, she does not need to worry about what to eat. However, for any avid hikers out there, you should consider investing in a book that tells you about what plants you can eat in whatever locale you go hiking in.

This could save your life if you find yourself stranded. Nobody wants to eat anything poisonous, especially if you are lost in the woods!