re: Missing Georgia hiker found safe after surviving weeks in California mountains.....

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If she found the cabin, shouldn't she have just followed the road away from the cabin?

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The roads were all blocked from the blizzard braved and forced her to ascend 8000’ over a mountain before finding shelter.

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So if you are going to leave your cabin unlocked for stranded hikers I would guess food and water would also be left behind. Also, did it mention how long she was in the cabin?

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She was in the cabin for about 8 hours. She had been eating wild leeks and making tea with snow that she boiled. Her parents were out shopping for gear so that they could help search for her when they found out she was alive. She also had to apply a splint to one of her legs and pop a knee back into place. The area she was at is high elevation and unforgiving. We go close to there during the summer. It’s beautiful.

Don’t forget, she lost her sleeping bag and tent during the initial fall. It was just her and the wilderness for the next 20 days.

If her story holds up, she's a badass.

Thanks for sharing. Nice to hear a story with a positive ending.

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That picture is not representative of a person lost in the wild for 3 weeks with no food or shelter. Perfectly clean clothes, no injuries, hair not matted or full of leaves

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This was my first impression also - she looked no worse off than getting back from a mile hike.

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How was she guiding herself? Map or compass? Has she ever done any orienteering?

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A map and compass maybe but more likely GPS on the phone, but she may not have had adequate backup power or recharging ability. Backpacking rarely relies on orienteering (basically never) it is about land navigation, similar but profoundly different. That said the majority of noobs I run into backpacking that are semi-lost is a result of the fact trail marking are less frequent and with less maintenance than trails in day hiking range. There are often trail junctions where the trail with obviously heavier traffic is actually not on the map and you should continue on the lower trafficked trail. This is often because people have bushwhacked a trail that is a more direct path to something/somewhere that rangers don't want you to take because it causes overly high erosion etc.

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Fishy.

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All outliers are fishy viewed through enough different lenses.

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Some of the things she said made me believe her

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Like she has ballerina syndrome, and she found a pair of heels made of leather in the woods that allowed her to walk properly?

The extent of my experience watching a sociopath conduct a 40 minute press conference wearing flats, while explaining how she is unable to rest on her heels for more than a few seconds at a time.