Lost for 11 days in snowed in Yosemite back in 1946

Lost in Yosemite's snows for 11 days in 1946, biologist ate lichen to survive
Bill Jacobs, whose ordeal remains one of classic winter survival tales of the national parks, dies at 99
By Mike Moffitt, SFGATE Updated 12:32 pm PDT, Wednesday, April 17, 2019

A wrong turn on a ski trail at Yosemite almost ended the life of an acclaimed biology professor before he ever gave his first lecture.

Dr. William "Bill" Jacobs had an illustrious career at Princeton, published many academic papers and was a world-class expert in plant hormones and grafting. He died in his sleep at his home in the New Jersey college town on March 2, less than three months from his 100th birthday.

But in 1946, Jacobs was a graduate student studying botany at the California Institute of Technology. On Feb. 2 that year, he and some colleagues decided to take a trip to the Badger Pass ski area in Yosemite National Park.

Jacobs became separated from his friends on his first run and didn't know which trail they had taken after riding the chairlift back to the top. So on his second trip down, he took a route he was not familiar with. Big mistake.


https://www.s.sfgate.com/travel/article/Yosemite-ordeal-lost-in-snow-11-days-professor-13769713.php

He described the lichen he ate as yellow-green in color. It sounds like Wolf Lichen, which is very common in that area. It's supposed to be poisonous to "meat-eating animals" such as foxes and wolves but not to some other species.