Tranquility turns harrowing

“That's quite a story.

How many of you carry a whistle when you hike?

(I do.)”

“I have one on my car keys left over from the lunch mom days.

It's one of the things I always have in my little hiking bag I always carry on explorations and dayhikes.

Hope that guy doesn't lose his feet!”

“Ahhh...the solo hiker's nightmare. Who packs a hollowed out pine tree with them?”

“Wow...scary stuff. Hope I never have to use my emergency whistle.

Me and a friend lost a trail on the upperportions of Dolly Sods on the first winter camping trip I ever did. Snow has a way of covering up all traces of trail and making everything look the same. I was following him, and it ended up that my map and compass skills took us to a stream where a trail was nearby. Just a few hours of not knowing where you are can be unnerving. He was starting to freak, and we'd've gone in circles if he'd of lead. Because that was my first winter trip...I learned a heck of alot of winter camping tips...the hard way. But certainly not as hard of a leasson as that dood.”

“Sass- Good thought. I usually give a spare car key, to a hiking partner, in case we get separated. Also, it would be a real bugger to fall somewhere that's difficult to get to, while carring the only keys.

If I'm out with my Dad, any kids, or newbies, they get a whistle, for sure, and everyone, at least, carries snacks with them”

“I used to frequent another board where someone would post a story like this and inevitably everyone would jump in with comments on how stupid the lost hiker was and how they deserved to be fined, yadda, yadda, yadda...

One thing I really like about this group is the empathy and helpful attitude displayed by most posters. NEVER would there be a 'Stupid Newbie Tricks' thread on that board. They'd all be too afraid to admit they'd ever made a mistake. Humor was banned there as well.

I love you guys (sniff).”

“Violin,

I think it is "there, but for the grace of god, go I."

Reality is that it could happen to any of us. It does happen to people who have lots of experience and know what they are doing. Sometimes there is a simple mistake or lapse of good judgement that leads to a bad situation, but who among us is above that?”

“Holy Mac & Cheese! Scary.”

“Also, foggy thinking due to illness can happen to anyone, even an experienced person. This story makes me want to work on my compass skills, before attempting any hike in a true wilderness.”

“I carry a big-but storm whistle hooked on my shoulder strap as does my wife and most of the people I hike with.

Yeah that guy made some bad decisions but still, that's what happens to smart folks in bad situations. It's natural. Those who like to fire up the "Stupid hiker" trash talk peg my "poser meter." Hike enough and it will happen to you too.

Almost happened to me last March in the Smokies, worst part is that I had other people's kids with me.”

“I went on a Sierra Club sponsored trip last weekend. The leaded demanded we all carry, on our person (not in pack) and at all times, a kit with:
whistle
lighter
matches
firestarter
compass
knife
flashlight (1aaa)

I had to buy a little knife and whistle, but I saw the wisdom of his advice, and will carry this little kit from now on.”

“leaded = leader”

“jerbear wears most of those things on a cord around his neck. I think that might be a good idea. Handy and you don't have to dig for things.”

“Good story, Markar. It makes you wonder what you would have done and how you would have handled it.

How many of you have ever been lost? How did it happen? Were you alone? Were you scared sh!tless?”

“I do the same and require my scouts to also.
Whistle, knife, matches, mini light and powerbar are my items though. (My watch is a compass)”

“Exactly Fritz. You can read through it and see the mistakes and know right where the decisions went the wrong way. And you know that at the time, in that circumstance, the reasoning was perfectly sound and it seemed like the right thing to do. You can also see where panic set in. Would we have done it differently? Maybe not.”

“Never been lost exactly, bewildered a few times. Then again, I don't solo. I'm just always way, way behind:-)”

“Le Subtil, add a heavy duty trash bag (leaf bag--orange if possible) to that for emergency raingear/shelter/signalling.”

“He did the right thing when he realized he was hopelessly lost; he stayed put and tried to keep panic at bay. He had shelter and water (snow) and waited for the rescuers to find him. Bad things can happen to good people, I guess.”

“Ok, time to tell my story.

This is my march smokies trip.
The whole report

link for those who want to cut to the chase

For those who don't want to read the whole thing we missed a trail junction and followed a research trail till it ended in the middle of a snowstorm.

Day 3 is when it happened. Luckily we were able to not make the situation worse but the implications of what could have happened still bothers me.

So yeah, I was scared.

On the way home I bought a book called Lost and read it to the boys while we drove back to Florida. The book is a journal of a Search and Rescue tracker the worked in the Smokies. I asked the guys to identify where the errors were that the missing people made. I have to say I'm very proud of those guys cause not a one made a single "stupid hiker" statement.

It made a hell of an impact on those guys (and me) when they realized just how close they had come to becoming a chapter in the next edition.”

“There is nothing like disorientation to get your heart rate up. I was lost in the Ozarks once while attempting a "short cut". As it got darker and darker, I became more and more concerned. I was with another person and we kept each other from panicing and finally figured out where we were. That's one of the reasons I don't plan on doing any serious solo-ing in wilderness areas. Well-worn trails are one thing, but losing trails is another.”

“I carry a whistle now, but more as a bear deterent than as an emergency device. However, I could really see its value in that as well.

I've been lost before. Going backcountry and took a wrong turn, descended the wrong stream during a thunderstorm and ended up on a rocky slope. Had to bivy at a pretty severe angle in my tent and hoped I wouldn't be washed away. Things turned out alright once the weather calmed down and I was able to use a map and compass to get my bearings. But it is always unnerving to not know where you are. Best thing you can do is remain calm and be prepared.”

“I've been lucky in that I've made most of my really bad mistakes in local parks (lost, inadequate clothing, etc). The scary thing is as I read through the article I reconized many of the things I had done in similiar situations. I normally carry a flat, dual-chambered whistle and mirror next to my first aid kit. It's kinda nice to know it would help if I ever neede it.”

“I guess the closest I came to feeling lost was once when I was working, surveying in the Cascades in October a few years back. Me and another guy were doing some scouting for a route to a timber stand. The site was a couple miles off a spur road. We got to the spot okay, tying ribbon to branches every so often, but in the afternoon snow started falling. Soon it was coming down really, really hard and we headed back.

The snow had completely covered our tracks, and it was coming down hard enough that we couldn't see any of the landmarks we had used to get our bearings on the way in. It actually was very cool, I remember thinking how absolutely dead quiet it was as the snowflakes floated down. We stumbled around for quite a while?it was eerie as it got darker in the afternoon. I thought about how miserable it would be huddling under a tree all night. We had nothing in the way of survival gear with us except water. We finally ran across one of the ribbons we'd left on a tree and knew we were somewhere sort of familiar. Eventually we did find the truck and get out of there, cold and wet.”

“humanpackmule -

I still can't get to your story. I wonder if we crashed your server.”

“Hmmm....
I have been having recurring DSL service drops with FDN lately. It could be that. I can get it fine here even after clearing my cache.
Not sure what to tell you.”

“Crash my server?
Doubtful, it's raided and load balanced.”

“Now it works.

Great looking pages but boy what a dumbass you were for losing the trail like that.”

“Absolutely, Violin, people that stupid shouldn't be allowed on the trails, much less entrusted with other people's children...

Good thing WE'D never get lost like that...”

“Just kidding! Just kidding!

Really it looks like you made the right choices and I'm sure the kids learned a lot. That's why I don't like the expression "hike your own hike". How many times has a hike gone exactly as planned? You hike the hike your handed and it's up to you to enjoy it or not.

"Pardon me Ma'am but we aren't the ones who are shivering." Great comeback!”

“I took a wrong turn (Mt Tyndall, 14K+ on the JMT in Sept) and thought one of us might end up as a statistic and on the Darwin list. I ended up on a rock slab, with a 2000' drop down and a neverending 5.8 climb up. Sure, I was scared. SnowDude turned back before he got too far down, but I HAD to go up. How did I get down there anyway???? We thought there was a better way off the ridge than the class 4 way we came. That was pretty dumb.”

“HPM, I just finished reading your whole trip report. Great job on the report and also on the trip itself.

Just one thing...on Day 4, shouldn't Mr. Monosot be a little more subtle with his pee-bottle?”

“LOL!
I had visions of liability passing before my eyes.

Yeah when we saw the sign everyone did a collective "DOH!"
I should have taken a picture cause it really didn't look like a junction even when we saw the sign.

This is why I only take the most mature and experienced kids on these big trips. I'd take that group anywhere, anytime and trust them with my life. Not a single whine, complaint or sour word among them the whole time. We were a little bummed that we came home a day early.”

“Fritz, ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!
I never thought of that!

Thanks for the compliments gang.”

“BTW- for anyone that didn't figure it out yet I'm the scoutmaster. So now you know what HMP's mug looks like.”

“Markar, thanks for starting this thread. The story made the front page of the Milwaukee paper. I had a chance to talk it over with a colleague who is a former BW guide and we both thought it was a perfect example of how a series of small mistakes accumulate into a big problem. Also that even when part of your mind is making poor judgements, another part can be guiding you toward smart choices.

Guess I better brush up my compass skills -- doesn't pay to carry one if I forget how to use it properly. A whistle is always with me, usually around my neck because of bear country, but also from my paddling time, as it's essential to signal on the river.

When I thought about him digging away at that tree with his Swiss Army knife, it made me glad I carry something a bit bigger. It supports carrying a knife in any case, but particularly one with a tough, sturdy blade that either locks (if a folder) or is a non-folder.”

“Now that I've finished reading your trip report -- Great job, HPM! Kudos to you and your scouts. You are now trained for winter camping here in northern Wisconsin. BTW, our family's last duty station in the Navy was Jacksonville. Bet it's changed a bit since 1956 when my dad mustered out as commissary chief at Cecil Field NAS (I think that's right facility).”

“Pekka, I've been reevaluating the blade I carry specificly because of the article. I made replace it with something sturdier when it wears out instead of a SAK(possibly a sperco or benchmade. Usual argument of strength vs cost and weight.”

“Thanks Pekka, Cecil Field was closed in the 2nd round of base closures in the 90's

I really did enjoy that trip. I'm looking forward to doing more snow camping.”

“There is a good article in National Geographic Explorer this month. It is called lost and has alot of info about the psychology of being lost.

If I were that dood I probably just would have freaked out and never would have thought to get into a tree.

Can a tree be a part of a daypack? LOL.”