What to do when lost

[perdidochas]

That's what I was taught by my father over 50 years ago. I always study the map of the area I'm going to and work out a couple of those boundaries. I may get into a situation where I don't know my exact location but I always have that "handrail" to bail out to. (I have actually never been lost but I have had a time or two when someone moved the trail on me.)

Same here. I teach the scouts in my sons' troop that idea.

[FlyPaper]

As others have said, the most important thing is to slow down and think. There are many kinds of lost. Most of us take a wrong trail for a few hundred yards from time to time. Obviously back tracking is a good strategy then. If you press on too carelessly, or too far before you realize you're off the AT, you might find yourself on a side trail and still not know how to back track.

Even worse is if you walk a hundred yards off the trail for water or to dig a cat hole and are unable to find your way back.

Advice such as "walk downhill" are generally plans to be followed only after less drastic plans have not panned out. If you are only 100 yards off the trail, chances are a careful, patient search can get you back on the trail. And you should not expect helicopters to be looking for you for at least a couple of days unless the situation is very dire.

On one of my hikes a person in our group got off the trail and was lost for four hours. It is good to have thought through ahead of time what to do in each of these situations...

1. You are the person lost.
2. You are looking for a person in your group that is lost.
3. You are helping a group of people you don't know find someone who is lost.

In our case, a forest ranger helped us out. He asked a bunch of questions, some of which we might not have thought all the way through.

e.g.

1. What does the lost hiker have? In our case he had a tent, sleeping bag, food and plenty of clothes.
2. Is he "stupid"? Might sound insulting, but if the hiker lacks mental capacity, that's good to keep in mind. In our case, he was not stupid, but he was on his first AT hike.

After answering these two questions, the forest ranger helped us see that the situation was not yet very serious.

3. Is there any chance he decided to go his own way? This might be because of an argument or extreme independent streak. In our case, this was not plausible.
4. Does he have a phone/map? In our case he did not (and probably hadn't even looked at the map before hiking).

Having been through this, it occurs to me that "what to do when lost" needs to be a topic of conversation with hiking buddies. In our case, it would have been helpful to have a better idea what the lost hiker would have done once he realized he was lost. As it was, we hadn't really had any conversation with him. Even if he had been an expert, we didn't really know what he was likely to do and couldn't predict.

As it turned out, the forest ranger just gave us advice and gave us his phone number. We had all been ready to hit the trails to find our friend, but the forest ranger encouraged us to post people at the possible exit points and wait. Our buddy was off the trail for 4 hours, but it was another several hours after he got back on the trail before we heard any word from him.

When I hike with my kids now, I frequently ask them "are we still on the AT", and we begin looking together for white blazes to confirm. And sometimes I let them lead to see if they'll take the right trail at a trail crossing.

[Another Kevin]

When I hike with my kids now, I frequently ask them "are we still on the AT", and we begin looking together for white blazes to confirm. And sometimes I let them lead to see if they'll take the right trail at a trail crossing.

Good for you. I used to make that a game with my daughter: "Make sure you notice landmarks, because you're on lead on the trip out!" It wasn't until her late teens that I made sure she knew it was serious business: "Make sure you know your way out, because God forbid anything should happen to me, you need to get home." I intentionally a couple of times took her through a confusing trail junction. (Harriman has a bunch of those. I let her lead through the junctions between the Ramapo-Dunderberg (red disk on white) and Tuxedo-Mount Ivy (red dash on white), and the White Bar (like an A-T blaze turned sideways) and Kakiat (white square). (I think there were one or two others that were similarly confusing.) I also let her recover when she got it wrong.

I also started her at a fairly early age accompanying me on easier bushwhacks, where the woods were fairly open and the "if I get lost" instructions could be something like "Down (SW) is toward the river - downstream is to the bridge - turn left on the highway and the parking lot will come up on the left."

Eventually, she got to the point where she and I were bagging trailless Northeastern peaks together, with her leading. We had at least one trip where we were a day late getting back, because of pesky bad luck with the route finding. (It seemed to be a choice between pushing through dense spruce or falling off a ledge.) We weren't lost. We knew exactly where we were. It just wasn't where we wanted to be. She has a better eye for the faint herd paths than I do.

[FlyPaper]

I also started her at a fairly early age accompanying me on easier bushwhacks, where the woods were fairly open and the "if I get lost" instructions could be something like "Down (SW) is toward the river - downstream is to the bridge - turn left on the highway and the parking lot will come up on the left."

Great ideas here. I have taken my kids out when they were very young and there were no other adults but me. I really haven't thought much about bushwhacking. But I usually ask them multiple times on the trip, "What if daddy conks his head and dies? What do you do?". In reality, I'm thinking heart attack is much more plausible, but I'm trying to make sure they think things through while avoiding making the thought of me dying on the trail seem that realistic.

Usually the choices are between going forward or going backward and whether or not they have enough daylight to reach a road by dark. Also, their first option is always to try the phone. And they should always stay together and bring the phone if they have to move. At any point they should know whether or not the nearest road is forward or backwards along the trail.

The last thing I'd want going through my mind if I were to be taking my dying breaths on the trail is that my kids are about to panic and get lost.

[August W.]

Get comfortable, breathe deep, and take a long look around, long enough until you can fully appreciate that there is still enough remaining elbow room on this crowded planet to somehow manage to get your lucky self lost, then scream like a little girl just as loud as you can, so loud that all the critters around you stop and quiet themselves. Then follow your tracks back to from where you came. Always works for me, but the screaming part is just for fun.

[rocketsocks]

I don't think I've been lost since I was about three (about the age a kid starts punchin; out on there own) even then I was but an isle away.

[PAFranklin]

I'll add another suggestion to the mix; if you are lost and night time arrives it's almost always best to hunker down and wait for daylight to get your bearings.

[peakbagger]

In the state of Maine which is about as remote as you can get along the AT, the standard training that hunters get in their state mandated hunter safety course is if you find yourself lost and don't have a reasonable expectation of self rescue, stay put, build a shelter if the weather is poor and make a big pile of firewood. When you think you have enough firewood, triple the size of the pile. Then light yourself a fire and spend the night. Contrary to TV shows, there is no animal in the north woods that wants to eat you and if there is fire they wont come anywhere near you at night. The biggest risks are getting and staying wet or panicking.

[Slo-go'en]

Or just call 911 which is what most folks around here do these days...

[Praha4]

my best advice to me is always carry a map & compass on hikes. A good topo map and a compass should enable any lost hiker to navigate back to civilization. Relying solely on trail blazes for navigation can lead to panic and poor decisions.

[Another Kevin]

When you're lost, you need to sit down comfortably, make a cup of tea, and calmly assess the situation.

(Figuring out what you need to do all the above when lost in bad weather gives you a pretty good gear list for day trips, by the way.)

[George]

best thing is to panic first - there will always be time for logical action/ thought later

[fudgefoot]

my best advice to me is always carry a map & compass on hikes. A good topo map and a compass should enable any lost hiker to navigate back to civilization. Relying solely on trail blazes for navigation can lead to panic and poor decisions.

I think you nailed it Praha:

Carry a map. Know how to read it.
Carry a compass. Know how to use it.

Those tools and skills are really the best way to relocate.

[TwoSpirits]

I read a good line once that has stuck with me --

"In general, you should have more skills than tools, more tools than rules, and more rules than rituals."

I try to pack and practice with this quote in mind.

[BirdBrain]

I hope this thread remains active. It is needful, constructive, and timely. Current events have some people thinking, I am sure. Given the current event, it might be relevant to consider some advice being suggested in this thread. It has been suggested that you should stay put. I believe, and am open to rebuke, that this advice is a product of the reality that many would make matters worse by trying to find their way to safety.

What I am about to suggest will be taken wrong by many. Therefore, I will try to remove the objection in advance. InchWorm was found about 3000' from the trail. She was there for over 2 years. I am not making any statement on her choice or actions or route. I am saying that if you stay put, it could be years before you are found. Her case proves that fact.

I know people get up in arms if you suggest that you should be over prepared. What to do if you are lost is a very valid obstacle to be prepared for. The reality is that many people walk in the woods in Georgia with very little regard for what to do if they get lost. Current events should change that mindset. And I contend again that a plan of action is the correct course and sitting tight is not a plan. Sitting tight is the best hope for those without a plan, because you are just gonna' make matters worse. Having a plan and knowing how to execute that plan is a better choice.

[Uriah]

Having a plan and knowing how to execute that plan is a better choice.

Even better yet: execution, whether by plan or not.

[BirdBrain]

Even better yet: execution, whether by plan or not.

Elaborate on this nuance please.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I hope this thread remains active. It is needful, constructive, and timely. Current events have some people thinking, I am sure. Given the current event, it might be relevant to consider some advice being suggested in this thread. It has been suggested that you should stay put. I believe, and am open to rebuke, that this advice is a product of the reality that many would make matters worse by trying to find their way to safety.

What I am about to suggest will be taken wrong by many. Therefore, I will try to remove the objection in advance. InchWorm was found about 3000' from the trail. She was there for over 2 years. I am not making any statement on her choice or actions or route. I am saying that if you stay put, it could be years before you are found. Her case proves that fact.

I know people get up in arms if you suggest that you should be over prepared. What to do if you are lost is a very valid obstacle to be prepared for. The reality is that many people walk in the woods in Georgia with very little regard for what to do if they get lost. Current events should change that mindset. And I contend again that a plan of action is the correct course and sitting tight is not a plan. Sitting tight is the best hope for those without a plan, because you are just gonna' make matters worse. Having a plan and knowing how to execute that plan is a better choice.

Agreed. I think one thing that could come out of current events is the ADVANTAGE of having a map in most circumstances of becoming lost. Gerry Largay was reported to be carrying a guide - but no map. We will never know if having one could have changed the outcome or not. But I almost always carry a map, small button compass, and relevant pages of a guide even when in familiar territory. Just because.

[illabelle]

I am acquainted with someone who was lost for 4 days in GSMNP during February. He had gone for a 2-hour off-trail hike, gotten turned around, experienced problems with his GPS, and spent the rest of his time trying not to die. Search parties were unable to find him. He managed to find his own way back to the Cades Cove loop road. Later one of the rangers said it would have been easier to find him if he had stayed put. My friend responded if he had stayed put, he would have died of hypothermia. It was the moving around that kept him alive.

I think the reality of that oft-repeated advice is, if you are on a trail, stay put and we will find you. If you are off-trail, good luck!

I hope this thread remains active. It is needful, constructive, and timely. Current events have some people thinking, I am sure. Given the current event, it might be relevant to consider some advice being suggested in this thread. It has been suggested that you should stay put. I believe, and am open to rebuke, that this advice is a product of the reality that many would make matters worse by trying to find their way to safety.

What I am about to suggest will be taken wrong by many. Therefore, I will try to remove the objection in advance. InchWorm was found about 3000' from the trail. She was there for over 2 years. I am not making any statement on her choice or actions or route. I am saying that if you stay put, it could be years before you are found. Her case proves that fact.

I know people get up in arms if you suggest that you should be over prepared. What to do if you are lost is a very valid obstacle to be prepared for. The reality is that many people walk in the woods in Georgia with very little regard for what to do if they get lost. Current events should change that mindset. And I contend again that a plan of action is the correct course and sitting tight is not a plan. Sitting tight is the best hope for those without a plan, because you are just gonna' make matters worse. Having a plan and knowing how to execute that plan is a better choice.

[JohnHuth]

My wife had me take a "survival test quiz" and I flunked because I bucked the standard advice to stay put.

I think the move versus stay put question depends on a large number of factors, but underlines the question of having a plan in the back of your mind "what if I get lost?"

Health - can you travel safely?
Terrain - how well do you know the terrain, is it safe to bushwhack across, or might it be a difficult environment (too hot, too cold, not enough water)
Possibility of a search and rescue mission - and will they know to look in the right place?
Gear - map and compass? Ability to sleep at night and not risk exposure?

I have a fanny pack that I take on every hike - it has basic tools to start a fire in any condition, the ability to make a shelter, get clean water. I also have in that pack some bright surveyor's tape and a sharpie pen - the idea being that if I traveled to get out, I could tie up some tape and notes with the sharpie. If a SAR team was looking for me, rather than find a point in a trackless 2D wilderness, they could find my line of travel and follow the surveyor tape path to my location - the odds of crossing that path are much higher than finding a point.

OK....some humor....I *almost* did this. I was teaching wilderness survival to my son's Boy Scout Troop. I was trying to get a list of items for their survival fanny pack - ways of starting fires, emergency blankets etc. In one book I read a suggestion to carry non-lubricated condoms and a bandanna as a way of storing water. The idea of sending a bunch of 13 year olds out to local pharmacies to buy non-lubricated condoms for a Boy Scout merit badge was almost something I couldn't resist. But I did resist and found a different option. Still, it's a good story.