she came here to oregon's mount hood national forest to go camping with her boyfriend arik essig. couple took a walk in opposite directions looking for a campsite, but pamela, who was wearing only shorts and a tank top, never returned. the next day, aric called for help and joined rescue teams deep in the woods. >> i definitely had a lot of optimism. i tried to maintain that. >> reporter: volunteers scoured trails, search teams swept across the sky. but the terrain was rugged, the area remote. >> the tallest timbers we could find in the state of oregon and she was down in the bottom of those on a creek bed. >> reporter: the big break wouldn't come until tuesday. >> base, go ahead. >> helicopters spotted somebody in the middle of the creek on a rock waving. >> reporter: pamela was sitting on a log, waving her arms to flag down search teams. >> finally the nightmare is over. she would tell rescuers she survived eating berries and drinking water from a creek. a portland preschool teacher, colleagues were overwhelmed by news of her miraculous rescue. >> she was just found. >> reporter