This aerial photo taken Saturday, April 9, 2016, and provided by Arizona Department of Public Safety shows, a "help" sign made by Ann Rodgers, 72, in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. Rodgers got... (Associated Press) 
 
 TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A woman lost in an Arizona forest for nine days survived by drinking pond water, eating plants and spelling out "help" on the ground with sticks, authorities said Tuesday. 
 
 The sign helped lead rescuers to Ann Rodgers, 72, in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona earlier this month, the state Department of Public Safety said. Rodgers declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press. 
 
 However, Rodgers told a Tucson TV station on Tuesday that she had food and water in her car but ran out after several days and turned to survival mode. 
 
 "I was eating desert plants. My dog was too, diving into clovers and finding all the places that were the easiest to go," she told KOLD. 
 
 Rodgers went missing March 31 as she headed to visit her grandkids in Phoenix. She got lost, and her hybrid vehicle ran out of gas and electric power, authorities said. Her car was discovered three days after a search began, but rescue crews struggled to find her. 
 
 Authorities came across her dog April 9, and a department flight crew spotted a "help" signal made of sticks and rocks on the ground. Rodgers had left the area, but she was found nearby on the Fort Apache Reservation after starting a signal fire. 
 
 Rodgers said she was waving to the helicopter. When it landed to rescue her, she sat down and cried. 
 
 The Department of Public Safety said Rodgers was suffering from exposure, but she was in fair condition and able to walk to and board the helicopter with little assistance. She was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Payson for treatment and later released. 
 
 Rodgers is from Tucson and was on a hike Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Public Safety said. It was not clear how she ended up in the eastern part of the state because the drive from Tucson to Phoenix is a straight shot on Interstate 10, which does not run through the area where she was found. 
 
 Rodgers' rescue came after three men who spelled out "help" with palm fronds were saved from a remote Pacific island last week. They swam to a tiny Micronesian island when their boat capsized, and searchers spotted them two days later. ||||| Officials said Ann Charon Rodgers was suffering from exposure, but was in fair condition and able to walk to and board the helicopter with little assistance. (Source: Arizona Department of Public Safety) 
 
 A 72-year-old Tucson woman and her dog survived nine days in the wilderness of the White Mountains thanks to her quick thinking and survival skills. 
 
 Ann Charon Rodgers left Tucson on March 31 to travel to Phoenix to visit her grandchildren, Arizona Department of Public Safety said. 
 
 Rodgers became lost and ended up on a remote stretch of a back-country road near Canyon Creek on the White Mountain Apache Reservation, ran out of gas and depleted the charge in her hybrid vehicle. 
 
 The first night, she spent the night in the car with her dog and cat. 
 
 “I got up the next morning hoping something would pass by - anybody, anything, even a steer. I didn’t care, just anything alive,” she said. 
 
 With no signs of life around her, she ventured up a mountain, hoping to see signs of life, and to get a cell phone signal. 
 
 “I could see where there might be humanity, some power pole anything a ranch, I didn’t care. But [there was] nothing,” she said. 
 
 Rodgers said she is always prepared. She carries food water in her car, but after several days, she was out of resources and went into survival mode. 
 
 “I was eating desert plants. My dog was, too, diving into clovers and finding all the places that were the easiest to go," she said. "She was my pathfinder on that journey." 
 
 Rodgers said she could see planes and helicopters flying by and knew she had to get their attention. 
 
 “I found a elk carcass bleached white, dead for a long time, 12 point rack. I brought it on the sandy beach, pointed it to a sign [that] said ‘help’ made out of white stones and sticks,” Rodgers said. 
 
 On April 9, a tribal Game and Fish officer found Rodgers’ dog walking out of the Canyon Creek area. 
 
 An air crew spotted Rodgers' distress signal and found a hand-written note on a rock, indicating Rodgers had run out of food and water and was proceeding down the canyon. 
 
 The rescue team discovered a shelter abandoned by Rodgers and found her a little further down the canyon standing next to a signal fire and waving to the helicopter. 
 
 It was the sound she had been waiting for, the helicopter coming down to rescue her. 
 
 “When the rescue police helicopter landed I just sat down and bawled,” she said. 
 
 DPS said Rodgers was suffering from exposure, but was in fair condition and able to walk to and board the helicopter with little assistance. She was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Payson for treatment, but has been released. 
 
 Rescue crews have her cat, she said, and she'll be reunited with him on Friday. 
 
 Copyright 2016 Tucson News Now. All rights reserved. ||||| TUCSON, Ariz. -- A woman lost in an Arizona forest for nine days survived by drinking pond water, eating plants and spelling out "help" on the ground with sticks, authorities said Tuesday. 
 
 The sign helped lead rescuers to Ann Rodgers, 72, in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona earlier this month, the state Department of Public Safety said. Rodgers declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press. 
 
 CBS affiliate KOLD via Gila County Sheriff's Office 
 
 She went missing March 31 as she headed to visit her grandkids in Phoenix. Rodgers got lost and her hybrid vehicle ran out of gas and electric power, authorities say. Her car was discovered three days after a search began, but rescue crews struggled to find her. 
 
 Authorities came across her dog April 9, and a DPS flight crew spotted a "help" signal made of sticks and rocks on the ground. Rodgers had left the area, but she was found nearby in the White Mountain Apache Reservation after starting a signal fire. 
 
 CBS affiliate KOLD reported that an air crew spotted Rodgers' distress signal and found a hand-written note on a rock, indicating Rodgers had run out of food and water and was proceeding down the canyon. 
 
 The rescue team discovered a shelter abandoned by Rodgers and found her a little further down the canyon. 
 
 Arizona Department of Public Safety 
 
 She was rescued in fair condition and has been released from the hospital. 
 
 Rodgers has Tucson-region area code, but it's not clear where she lives or how she wound up in the eastern part of the state. 
 
 The drive from Tucson to Phoenix is a straight shot on Interstate 10, which doesn't run through the area where she was found.
– Ann Rodgers may not have the greatest navigation skills in the world, but the 72-year-old appears to have amazing survival skills. Authorities say that after Rodgers somehow became lost while driving from Tucson to Phoenix to visit her grandchildren, her hybrid vehicle ran out of both gas and electric power and she was stranded in the remote White Mountains for nine days, CBS News reports. Rodgers and her dog survived by drinking creek water and eating berries and desert plants, authorities say. She was rescued, in fair condition despite suffering from exposure, after an air crew spotted a "HELP" sign she had made from sticks and stones. After the sign was spotted, rescuers found a note from Rodgers indicating she had moved down the canyon, and she was found next to a signal fire she had lit. She tells Tucson News Now that she spent the first night in her car, but after she ran low on water, she decided to move on in hopes of finding people or at least a cell phone signal. Survival instructor Cody Lundin tells the Arizona Republic that it is "very rare, statistically abnormal, and freakish" for Rodgers to have survived so long, and she would have had little hope in a colder season. The AP notes that Tucson to Phoenix is a straight shot on Interstate 10, so it's not clear how Rodgers became so lost. (A "HELP" sign also saved these castaways in the Pacific.)