By PHILLIP GOMEZ
PVT

A Korean woman, 22, hiked out of the pit of Death Valley without water last week after her family's car became stuck in the sand with a flat tire in a remote area of the park.

Temperatures during the period ranged from 106 to 110 degrees.

The family of four broke down along Racetrack Road, a desolate, north-south graded stretch of dirt road running 30-odd miles from Ubehebe Crater to the Racetrack near the head of the Racetrack Valley in the west-central part of the park.

The Racetrack is a popular, if isolated, area west of the Cottonwood Mountains.

The car got a flat tire and became mired when the family reportedly tried to turn around. They carried no water.

Fortunately, an abandoned mine and spring were nearby. The woman took off for help toward Scotty's Castle, 20 miles or so away, camping overnight with a sleeping bag she carried.

She had no water, but a motorist picked her up after she had hiked "a good eight or nine miles," said Terry Baldino, the park's chief of interpretation.

A search and rescue effort was mounted and a park pilot was sent up to look for the family. He spotted their vehicle and the family was shortly rescued. A wrecker from Bishop, Calif., got their car out and the family returned to their hotel in Beatty.

"What could have been a serious situation turned out OK," said Baldino. "A lot of things could have gone wrong."

As to an earlier report that the woman had to resort to drinking her own urine to survive her ordeal, Baldino said the rangers participating in the rescue heard no such report from anyone involved.

"It makes a pretty good story, but we don't have any truth to that," Baldino said.