She Survived Days in Colorado Wild Thanks to Reality TV

Who says watching reality television is a waste of time? Not Keeping Up With the Kardashians—think Alive and Naked and Afraid, two of the programs that Gina Chase now credits for helping to keep her alive. The 53-year-old Canadian went missing for nearly four days during a spiritual retreat in southwest Colorado last month while on a solo hike, and the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office now says in a report that she shouldn't have gone out alone, as she didn't have rudimentary navigation skills and wasn't prepared for emergencies by her guides at the Animas Valley Institute, per CBS News. But Chase, who was lost with just a whistle, water bottle, space blanket, and some matches, was apparently more prepared than many knew.

• Her ordeal: Employing skills she'd seen on TV, Chase erected a shelter made of tree branches and filtered swampy water through a DIY filter made from fire charcoal and moss into a rubber glove. She also built fires using Band-Aid wrappers to try to attract attention and kept herself motivated with popular songs—including Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," per Victoria News.

• Rescue: Chase was found on Aug. 17, after following the sun and stumbling upon a group of people looking for her. Chase now says that she greatly appreciates all of the searchers' efforts, but adds that one fact is getting lost. "Nobody rescued me; I had to rescue myself," she says. "I just turned into this really smart, careful, calculating version of myself. I had little room for emotion."
• Who's to blame? Chase doesn't seem to fault the trip's organizers, but the sheriff's report sees it differently, saying the institute shouldn't have let hikers who'd been fasting head out into the woods on their own. It also slams organizers for not properly assessing each hiker's survival skills and for allowing them to use green-colored gear designed to keep them "closer to nature," Chase's husband tells CBS. "I pointed out how stupid this was from a safety perspective, as these colors were difficult to see in wooded terrain," Sgt. Lane Masters wrote in the report. The Animas Valley Institute now says it will bring in outside experts to evaluate its practices.

(More survivor stories.)