Following General Crook's trail.

Three of us went up on the Rim and hiked along part of what used to be General Crook's trail. The General built a road to harass the native Americans way back in 1871. None of the road was an easy job. The Rim is a major tourist draw around here. The Rim is an escarpment, in fact the longest one in the world. The uplifted cliffs run for two hundred miles and are the beginning of the Colorado Plateau. 

Age is catching up. The six mile hike in and out with high temperatures wore old Kadizzle down. The good news was the hike had a gentle slope and the trail was easy walking. We stopped at Fred Haught's cabin, or what was left of it. All that remained was an outline of logs and the fire place. The fireplace was a puzzle. The mantle was one huge stone, and the rest of the fireplace was dry laid rock. How did Fred get that big stone up there? Living out there in the middle of nowhere must have been interesting. 

At every wilderness sign post was a poster for a person missing over a year. A couple times Kadizzle has seen these posters in the woods. Suicide is most likely the answer. Yes, you can get lost in the woods, but you would have to work at it. In modern times you can hardly go any direction for any period of time without hitting a road. It might be possible a mountain lion or bear killed you and at you, but most likely you junk would be near the trail. Kadizzle thinks these people go out in the woods and hide themselves then kill themselves. With modern equipment and search techniques people can be found. The other strange thing is who would go out alone and not give someone a good idea of what they planned to do?Seems like most of these people go to a remote place and leave their car. Ultimately someone notices a car parked for to long. A lot of people wander the wilderness looking for antlers. Chances are someone would find clothing, a belt buckle, or some item the person had. To go missing without a trace you would have to work at it. People generally follow the same route, even if there is no trail. That would mean your bones would be findable. Who knows. We have hiked thousands of miles in the woods and found many strange things, but never come across human remains. Once in awhile we find something someone lost, but it is unusual. 

 A person could fall off a cliff, and that would mean to find them you would make a difficult hike along the bottom of cliffs. Seems like most of these people are missing for some time before anyone notices, another indication they did not intend to be found.