Route using apple maps

I've seen a few posts stating that using apple maps would have taken him in the wrong direction initially. I don't have an apple phone but it's possible to use apple maps on a pc via the duckduckgo search engine. Recreating the suggested walking route produces this result:

[Image]

You can see that it does head north at first and briefly re-joins the road (at Mirador La Cruz de Hilda) before taking another off road path further north and uphill. I believe it has been reported that Mirador La Cruz de Hilda is the starting point for the search today.

in JaySlaterby Only-Deer100

85%

Quirks-

I think it gives an explanation as to why he went that way, then off road.

Apprehensive_Pair206

Ok this is going to sound really dumb, but even I, as a 35 year old never knew that Tenerife was mountainous. My Geography is shit. Do you think maybe Jay was as clueless as me and thought it would be an “easy” walk? I know that doesn’t help anything, I’m just curious as to peoples opinions.

rocketman1989

Doesn’t sound dumb at all. I’m the same age and although I was once good at geography, navigating by road signs and anything that requires planning and thought I am now almost entirely useless on the spot cause we don’t need to sus things out like we used to. Would be very easy to follow a Google maps trail without realising it’s gunna be over mountains.

Boborovski

I think that even if he knew in theory that it was mountainous, he may not have realised the implications of that. Most of the UK has fairly easy terrain, so unless you’ve been mountain-climbing, you may easily think that "mountainous" means a few hills and rocks here and there, no big deal. The same as how British people are infamous for underestimating the effects of heat in countries like Greece. It's not that we don't know it's hot, we don't have much of a reference point for just how hot it is and we think we can get by with a 500ml bottle of water and a sunhat.

I'll be honest that I didn't know Tenerife was mountainous either. I always associated it with beaches and never really thought about what the rest of it might be like.

Only-Deer100

In aerial view after the route turns sharply it then appears to follow a south easterly ridge route along the tops of the mountains. It is hard to comprehend how anyone who is not an experienced hiker would attempt that route.

Maybe the search teams have been assuming he went downhill towards the sea and have to date been concentrating on the ravines and gullies.

Asaneth

I don't know if the search teams even know about the Apple Maps theory? The person who came up with it last week is a Reddit user, u/dioxity. Unless the police and searchers are on Reddit, they might not know about it.

dioxity

You’d like to think by now after Lucy said Jay told her he was using maps, they’d have figured this out but who knows.

[Image]

The route isn’t actually that technical — I’ve Google Earthed it and looked at a few Hikers photos and it’s just stoney / gravel terrain. I probs wouldn’t even use my boots.

If he did go this way and abandoned the ridge 1/2 - 3/4 way and went 6 o clock / south, he would have headed down to the red and blue gully’s in my pic — which would be South of Masca, effectively he’d gone round in a circle.

But who knows — he’s there somewhere.

ASmallRedSquirrel

From the viewpoint/ cafe there are two paths / tracks - one on the left which heads towards the sea and one on the right which at least initially goes in the same direction as the road, just a bit higher. The one on the left becomes quite exposed further on I think - I have walked the first bit, which was fine, but turned back due to lack of time. The path I walked is basically along then around the side of the mountain ridge opposite the viewpoint. I haven't been on the one on the right of the road, but it's a numbered trail and as far as I know not too difficult.

So it's possible that for some reason he saw the sea and decided to head towards it, but who knows how far he got if that's the way he went? There is a third path/ track a bit further north along the road, which goes down into the valley (I could see it below me when I was on the other path and it's marked on your map).

Your 1,2,3 are unlikely though - 2 and 3 are too far away and would require going over large mountains, the only 'easy' way to go that direction is along the road (South). number 1 is accessed via Masca village and is a well known trail (you now have to buy tickets in advance to do it!) called the Masca Gorge walk. People usually walk from Masca village to the sea and then get a boat rather than walking back up. If he had entered that valley he would have had to walk through the village and have a ticket for the trail.

The area around the viewpoint cafe therefore makes the most sense (last know phone position).

I was there in 2018 though, so just going from memory and the photos I took...

dioxity

Gully 1 is Masca Gorge which according to news is where most of the search has taken place.

My rationale for Gully’s 2 and 3 although technically south of Masca was.. if he was following the hiking trail to the east — heading towards Santiago del Teide — abandoning that hike due south would effectively return him South of Masca and into either Gully 2 or 3 depending on how much energy he had left.

Looking at altitude and terrain on Google Earth though it would be hard to not reach an elevation point where you could see civilisation. Unless that’s what happened, he headed towards one and fell / broke something.

The alternate to due south would be the vast forestry to his North — I read yesterday he did say on the phone before it died “it’s just green everywhere”, so who knows.

I’m not sure given how long it’s been what would be left of him, bones and clothing that may no longer resemble a body anymore.

Asaneth

I hope they've figured it out, but there's no guarantee. If there is someone in authority you can send your theory to, including the maps and images you posted, I think it would be a good idea. I'd make the title of the email stand out, so they actually read it. Better safe than sorry.

Intelligent_Crow1136

Whistleblower

MoleMoustache

-2

This apple maps thing is such a massive leap, there's no evidence he used it at any point.

Who the fuck uses apple maps anyway, he'd have to be the only person on the planet using the fucking thing

Inner-Spread-6582

I've no idea because I don't have an apple phone, but which navigation app would an apple phone user normally use?

EnvironmentalTruth72

I use Apple Maps, everyone I know that has a iPhone also uses Apple Maps.

MoleMoustache

Sure thing mate, I bet that's a great topic of conversation around your table with all your mates.

manc_lad_22

Even Google maps can send people in the wrong direction. I think it's perfectly plausable he tried to use his map application and he got confused as to the best route home. I don't have an iPhone but I imagine a decent amount iPhone users would be using Apple maps.