Karen did have the extra clothing, and all the other 15 "Ten" Essentials with her. Her hiking partner (who stopped at the snowline and reported her missing when she didn't return) confirmed this. As a longtime Mountaineers member, trip leader and instructor, as well as author, Karen would never, never have gone without them.

Very few of the media yesterday--I think only the Seattle Times--picked up on the fact that the coroner cited heart disease as a contributing factor. It looks as though you missed that, Rick--maybe the update was added after you linked to the article.
Seattle Times article: (emphasis mine)
Quote:
UPDATE, 4:52 p.m. | Karen Sykes died of hypothermia with the secondary cause of heart disease, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s office said this afternoon. Her death was determined to be an accident.


The Washington State hiking community is devasted. I knew Karen only from her articles (back in the 1980s) in the now-defunct Signpost Magazine and her many posts on the nwhikers.net hiking forum. She was an outstanding advocate of hiking, the Pacific Northwest and of hiking trails. Please, please don't let this wonderful woman be remembered for a "mistake" she did not commit!

There are (so far) 17 pages in the nwhikers.net forum devoted to concern and (when the bad news came) tributes to Karen Sykes.

I can think of far worse ways to go!


Edited by OregonMouse (06/24/14 07:05 PM)
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey