"He gave her a handshake and told her to be safe."

More on that New Mexico rescue:
Some good tips, but note the brothers luckily did deviate from their well-mapped out plans that Mom had a copy of back home. Also, I give Carolyn Dorn credit for staying alive, particularly compared to this guy. A rare happy-ending story.

...
This was the second trek in the Gila wilderness in as many years for the Kottke brothers, who love to travel together. They had left behind an itinerary so detailed that their parents would know exactly where they would be stopping for snacks on any given day.

"Whenever you go out in the wilderness, you want to make sure someone knows where you are," explained Albert, who took a survival training course years ago.

Dorn, meanwhile, was described as a "free spirit" who sometimes went camping alone without telling anyone. She reportedly set out for the Gila National Forest on Dec. 6 and became trapped when a rain-swollen river cut off her escape route.

When the Kottke brothers began their trek exactly a month later, they heard that a woman had gone missing in the area. But they didn't see another soul for six days, as they meandered off trails, up and down ravines and across the bone-chilling Gila River. Then, with the weather growing ominous, they decided to veer off their more rugged path and take a slightly easier, and longer, route along the trail, which they figured would be safer.

About noon Friday, they heard "something yelling" across the river. "It didn't sound human," said Peter Kottke. They found Dorn calling out to them. "The first words she said was 'I haven't eaten in three weeks,' " said Albert Kottke. "If she didn't call to us, we would have walked right by."

The brothers gave her Tang and ramen noodles, and watched her begin to spring back to life. But they all agreed that she was in no shape to hike, and that they couldn't carry her on the hazardous route. They had cell phones, but were out of range of phone service. "We talked about it," Albert said. "She was very comfortable if we left her. She made us a little list of things she needed to survive." They split their rations, leaving her with brown sugar, dried applies, almonds, an energy bar and cheese.

They also offered one of their books, "Chasing the Dime," a detective story by Michael Connelly. And she was "very eager" to have it. "That I thought was a good sign," Albert said. "Just being able to think about boredom rather than survival."

After about an hour and a half, "I asked 'is there anything else you need?' " Albert said. "She said, 'No, I'll be fine. Just get me help.' " He gave her a handshake and told her to be safe.

The brothers reached the access road the next afternoon, Saturday, and hitched a ride to Silver City to tell police their stunning news. "I think a lot of people had already given up on her and thought they'd just find her body," Albert said.

...
Their mother, Katherine Kottke of St. Paul, credits years of camping in Minnesota and good training for their cool under fire. "The thing that's so interesting is that they made the right choices," she said. "They would have risked their own lives if they would have attempted to carry her out."