A 28-year-old woman, Tiffany Slaton, survived for three weeks in California’s eastern Sierra Nevada by foraging for food and drinking melted snow after a solo camping trip went wrong during harsh snowstorm. Slaton described her ordeal at a news conference with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department, two days after being found in an unlocked cabin left by the owner for hikers in need. She had been there only eight hours before the owner arrived. She was caught in an avalanche at one point, injuring her leg. Although she had a bicycle, tent, two sleeping bags, and food, she lost all her equipment except a lighter, knife, and some snacks. After falling, she tried calling 911 five times without success but maintained a GPS signal on her phone.

Slaton journalled throughout her arduous journey to keep sane and eventually managed to reach civilisation. “I ended up on this very long, arduous journey that I journalled to try and keep sane and eventually managed to get to civilisation,” she said. The cabin was more than 32 km from where she was last seen, with up to 12 feet of snow in the mountains. 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.