Extremely technical rescue on Camelback Mountain in Phoenix

Capt. Rob McDade of the Phoenix Fire Department said the hiker, off the Cholla Trail, got lost in the dark and couldn't make her way down.

[panamapatti]

woman should never leave the house.  full moon on Sat., so how the hell did she get lost?  there is enough reflected light from the city to navigate the mountain. unbelievable

[franciscoosuna]

In her defense. When you are the base of a mountain the climb does not look so bad. In Albuquerque I would run from my house at 6000 feet elevation to the top at 10, 000 feet about once a month. One day I decided to explore a stream up a canyon, but it ended at a very steep wall. I had to get back to the house to make supper for my disabled wife and decided to take a short cut and climb up the side of the box canyon. It was a more direct route to the house instead of the way I came. The canyon walls start about a 40 degree climb and a challenge but not impossible. What I did not realize from that perspective is that as you get closer to the top the climb gets much steeper. i.e. if I were to have lost my footing I would have rolled 800 feet to the bottom. Live and learn.