23-year-old Madeline Connelly and her dog, Mogi, left to go hiking in the Great Bear Wilderness on May 4. The Illinois hiker's intention was to spend a night camping in the park. However, when she didn’t return, a search was launched by local officials. Despite the Search And Rescue operation, she was nowhere to be found.

Illinois hiker found alive and well after six days lost in the wilderness

As reported by the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office in a press release, after a period of six days in the wilderness, search and rescue teams finally found Connelly at approximately 11 a.m.

on Wednesday. She was uninjured, but reportedly very hungry and tired when she was found some five miles away from where she had parked her car.

KTMF interviewed Connelly on Facebook Live after she was rescued and she told them she couldn’t believe that she and her dog, Mogi, were able to escape the wilderness, where she said she had spent seven days. She said she had suffered through what she termed “treacherous weather.” Connelly went on to say that she knew on the first night that something was wrong when she recognized she was not in the right place. She then became lost and wandered even further into the wilderness, not knowing how to return to her car.

Hiker couldn’t find the trail or her car

According to Connelly, she thought if she just kept going she could find the trail and get out, but then she ended up at a lake and knew this wasn’t right.

She had no tent or supplies with her and reportedly had to sleep under trees to get some form of protection from the elements. Connelly was dressed only in a T-shirt, overalls and a sweater with a hood, which was not adequate protection from the bad weather. While she was able to find drinkable water, she was without food for several days, according to police.

ABC News quoted Connelly as saying she had made a huge mistake, getting lost as she did and had no idea of the media attention she had caused until she was finally found Wednesday. She said she felt like an idiot. However, for her mother, the fact her daughter had been found turned out to be the best Mother’s Day gift she could ever have. Her mother said she never lost hope that her daughter would be found, especially with all the support her family received while her daughter was missing.

According to the Chicago Tribute, Connelly was visiting Montana from Illinois while on her way to Alaska, where she is set to start a new job at a bakery. Reportedly Connelly originally came from the Chicago area but has been living in Arizona.