Missing hiker survived for weeks in California wilderness by foraging
and drinking melted snow
[May 17, 2025]
By JAIMIE DING
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 28-year-old woman described Friday how she survived
for weeks outdoors in California's eastern Sierra Nevada by foraging for
food and drinking melted snow after a solo camping trip went awry during
harsh winter weather.
Tiffany Slaton detailed her ordeal during a news conference with the
Fresno County Sheriff's Department, two days after she was found in a
cabin that the owner had left unlocked in case wayward hikers needed
shelter. Authorities said she had been there for only eight hours before
the cabin's owner arrived and discovered her.
Slaton described being caught in an avalanche at one point, causing her
to fall and hurt her leg. She didn’t say which day that happened. She
had a bicycle, a tent, two sleeping bags and food, she said, but she
ended up losing all of her equipment, leaving her with only a lighter, a
knife and some snacks. She didn’t describe how she lost her tent or
other gear.
After she fell, Slaton said she tried calling 911 five times with no
success but got a GPS signal on her phone.
“I ended up on this very long, arduous journey that I journaled to try
and keep sane and eventually managed to get to civilization,” she said.
Authorities called her survival stunning given the conditions. The cabin
was more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) from where she had last been
seen, and the mountains were covered in up to 12 feet (3.66 meters) of
snow in some areas.
“I would have never anticipated her in my wildest dreams being able to
get back as far as she did,” Sheriff John Zanoni said.
Slaton had been on an extended biking and backpacking trip that also
included time in Oregon, department spokesman Tony Botti said. Her
journey took her to the Sierras, where she decided to make the trek to
the Mono Hot Springs before meeting a friend in mid-April, he said. She
was last seen on April 20 by a security camera near Huntington Lake, an
unincorporated mountain community, riding on a bicycle and also sitting
on a sidewalk with a backpack.
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Tiffany Slaton, a hiker found in the High Sierra after going missing
for three weeks, speaks during a press conference, Friday, May 16,
2025 in Fresno, Calif. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)
Slaton’s parents, who live in Georgia, reported her missing on April
29 after they hadn't heard from her in a week.
Slaton, who was a competitive archer in her home country of Bermuda,
said her athleticism and foraging knowledge helped her survive. She
had some snacks on her but eventually ran out.
The owner of Vermilion Valley Resort, Christopher Gutierrez, said
his staff left cabin doors unlocked during the winter in case
someone needed shelter during the frequent mountain snowstorms. His
backcountry lodge sits in the Sierra Nevada about halfway between
Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks and is a
frequent stop for hikers on the John Muir and Pacific Crest trails.
Slaton found safe haven in one of those cabins during an intense
snowstorm where all she could see was white, she said. It was just
eight hours later that Gutierrez arrived to open the cabin for the
season, authorities said.
“If he hadn't come that day, I think they would have found my body
there,” Slaton said.
Two days earlier, the Fresno County Sheriff’s office called off a
search that had covered more than 600 square miles (1,550 square
kilometers) of the Sierra National Forest, with no luck. Searchers
were hampered by heavy snow blocking many roads.
Slaton emerged battered and bruised from the cabin Wednesday.
When she saw Gutierrez, she ran up to him to give him a hug.
“I really do have a new faith in humanity,” Slaton said of surviving
her ordeal.
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