You know what's worse than being stranded on a mountain with no food?

Uh, listening to ads when you're trying to escape reality?

Exactly. That's why we've got you covered on Patreon. For just a few bucks, ditch the ads completely.

And for a few bucks more, get ad-free listening plus early access to our disaster strikes episodes.

Because when disaster hits in the middle of nowhere, you'll want the story for plus early access to our disaster strikes episodes.

Because when disaster hits in the middle of nowhere, you'll want the story first.

Head to patreon.com and search Crux True Survival Stories.

Your future survival depends on it.

Okay, maybe not literally, but your listening experience definitely will.

Welcome to the segment of the Crux podcast called Disaster Strikes.

While our regular episodes focus on survival stories where people overcome incredible odds,

this biweekly segment examines outdoor adventures that ended in tragedy. These stories are meant to paint a clear picture of how quickly things can go wrong in the wilderness

and a cascade of decisions, often small and seemingly reasonable in the moment, that can lead to devastating outcomes.

By studying these incidents respectfully and thoroughly, we can all learn valuable lessons

that might save lives. The stories are difficult, but the education they provide is invaluable.

I'm your host, Julie Henningson, and I'm Casey McIntosh. And today we're headed to the AT,

the Appalachian Trail. Before we get going with our story, I'd like to give a shout out to listener Abby Kurtz,

who sent us a message with this story idea.

Thanks, Abby.

Appreciate your input, and I'm excited to share with you the story of Jerry Large.

Today's story is one that fundamentally changed how we think about hiking safety on America's

most famous trail. It's about a 66-year-old woman named Geraldine Largay, who had a simple dream

...