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  1. #1

    Default Always know where you are

    These stories always make me just shake my head; I don't know why, maybe because it's just so ingrained in me to always be aware of my surroundings and know where I'm at. Even on the AT I'm constantly aware of the direction the trail is going.

    Contrary to popular belief, you're not always walking either north or south

    http://news.yahoo.com/ca-hikers-woes-showed-danger-urban-wilderness-003335800.html




    CA hikers' woes showed danger of urban wilderness

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — In Southern California, where urban sprawl meets pristine wilderness, one can stand on a backwoods mountain trail and be so close to the city as to still hear the rumble of traffic and make out a downtown skyline.

    Which is something, wilderness experts say, that can lead to a false sense of security.

    Earlier this week, two teens hiking in a section of the rugged Cleveland National Forest that is only a couple miles from a shopping mall may have fallen victim to just that when they wandered off a trail and were lost for days.

    Nicolas Cendoya and Kyndall Jack had planned a short Easter Sunday hike on a moderately easy trail in a section of the Cleveland National Forest that serves as the backyard for the suburban Orange County neighborhood where they live. When they wandered off the marked trail that afternoon and couldn't find their way back, however, it took authorities days to find them.

    Badly dehydrated and nearly incoherent when rescuers located them, both were lucky to have survived. They are recovering in Southern California hospitals.

    That's a scenario that should almost never happen, but it happens all the time in Southern California, said Mike Leum, who headed a team that hiked up a near vertical canyon wall on Thursday to rescue Jack from a small rock outcropping where the 18-year-old had taken refuge. Cendoya, 19, was found nearby the night before.

    There were a record 560 similar rescue efforts carried out in Los Angeles County alone last year, said Leum, reserve chief of search and rescue for the Sheriff's Department.

    "A lot of these places you can see downtown Los Angeles from," Leum said, noting that may give some hikers an extra feeling of security when they head out for what they believe will be just a short day hike.

    But even being minutes from a city of 3.8 million, or in the case of Jack and Cendoya a short drive from a suburban shopping mall, means nothing if you can't get back down the mountain you've just climbed up.

    "And you have to spend the night there in freezing temperatures and you're not prepared for it, then you're probably not going to survive," he said.

    In Jack and Cendoya's case, the weather was mild every night they were trapped in the forest's Falls Canyon, but they ran out of water by the end of their first day.

    Although they managed to place a 911 call seeking help, their cellphone battery died before authorities could pinpoint their location. And although the sprawling expanse of Southern

    California suburbia is clearly visible from the forest's ridgelines, in the canyon where they were trapped the brush was so thick they couldn't find a road that was just 500 feet away.

    Although four national forests with more than 2,000 miles of hiking trails dot Southern California, experts remind that, while the area may be crisscrossed by freeways and filled with high-rise buildings, that's wilderness people are heading into and they need to be as prepared for it as they would be entering a backcountry area that's a hundred miles from a city.

    There's no excuse, they say, for not bringing sufficient water, decent hiking shoes, proper clothes and other provisions.

    "I'm not saying take a burro and have it loaded down with supplies," said Ron Silverman, senior director of the Sierra Club's Angeles chapter. "But what I am saying is think it through. If you're going for just an hour, you want a full bottle of water. And you don't want to take a sip and leave it in the car because you don't want to carry it with you. Bring the bottle."

    But most importantly, say Silverman and others, don't go off the marked trail, no matter how good a hiker you think you are and not matter how close to civilization you may be. It was put there by other experienced hikers who marked it for a reason, to keep people from getting lost in areas they may get trapped in.

    Such advice is often posted on forest websites and at ranger stations but Silverman said people often don't follow them, sometimes because they figure it's just a short time.

    Other times there are other reasons involved.

    "Some people, they just want to get adventurous," said Silverman. "It's that sense of adventure, that 'Oh, I can do that,' that gets people into trouble.

    "If you want adventure," he adds, "ride a roller coaster. Be outside to enjoy the beauty of nature."

  2. #2
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    Which is exactly why I slightly over-prepare myself, print out multiple maps with POI's, and only touch my cellphone when it's necessary. Even on the AT, you can get lost. I find that it's important to never be over confident that you know where you're going. My eyes are now always peeled for white blazes. We once had a little hiccup in our weekend hike. It was our first time out. We had maps printed up. We left the Hawk Mountain shelter, headed back to the trail. Got back to the trail and there are about 3 different ways to go from there. We took the wrong route, and didn't see any white blazes, but didn't mind it too much because the trail was so prominent. Before we knew it, we reached a dead end. I got out my phone to check the GPS. It said that we were about 2 miles off trail, BUT it appeared that if we kept going North, we would hit the trail. Okay, so we decided to do some bushwacking. BAD IDEA. The Google maps app was WRONG. We ended up a couple hundred yards off of the wrong trail, trying to find the right trail, down a mountain, thick brush. I mean, we weren't "lost" because we knew how to go back the way we came, but had we not hit a dead end, there is no telling how long we would have kept going.

    That pretty much through our entire hike off schedule and we weren't able to finish the way we wanted. It was a great adventure, but extremely frustrating at the time. Lesson learned, though.

    Needless to say, that won't happen to me again.

  3. #3

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    Now that the vast majority of A.T. thru-hikers don't carry maps anymore (primarily because they've been informed that they don't need them), the simple truth is that while these folks generally know which WAY they're going, they only have an approximate idea of where they actually are. In case of injury, illness, or other emergency, especially one where they need to get to a road or out of the woods in a hurry,this is not a good thing.

  4. #4
    Garlic
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    I learned to always have a "handrail", something firmly located in your mind that you can (figuratively) reach out and grab and know where you are at all times. It might be a prominent gully, stream, ridge, highway, tower, building, star, etc. If you're aimlessly wandering in the woods, hoping to see something familiar, that's a danger sign. It doesn't mean you necessarily need a map, maybe just knowledge and common sense.

    I also learned to look behind me frequently. You might miss a "Y" intersection on your way up, but get confused on your way down.
    "Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning

  5. #5
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    Yes, these stories never cease to amaze. Basic awareness of the topography, local landmarks and the ability to determine N,S, E, W should prevent most situations like this. I fully understand going off a marked trail and then trying to bushwack your way out of it,. But, when that is not working out for me within 10 minutes I am retracing my steps back the way I came. Unless I know what is on the other side I never climb up something I can't get down, or down something I can't get up. Well, except that one time in the Badlands, but I don't want to talk about that

    Unfortunately, stories like this result in admonishments like 'Never hike alone' or "don't go off the marked trail, no matter how good a hiker you think you are and not matter how close to civilization you may be." That would be a shame if we let the 'nanny state' keep us from experiencing the peace of solitude and joy of exploring the natural world. But please, before you do, make sure you can take care of yourself out there.

  6. #6
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    Most people are utterly illiterate when it comes to reading a map. It is rarely taught in school (not in the "standards"), so if they don't get it from youth groups, family , or the military, they have no idea how to find their way. I fear that many who scorn the need for maps on the AT fall into this category. It's sad, sometimes fatally so. Add that's not counting the pleasures of geographical knowledge and interpretation in its own right.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

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    I recall vaguely another story a couple yrs ago about someone that got lost in the suburban mountain forest around a major city in the Pacific NW. Lived for several months I think, but finally starved to death. Within 10 miles of a major city.

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    I recall vaguely another story a couple yrs ago about someone that got lost in the suburban mountain forest around a major city in the Pacific NW, on a day hike. Lived for maybe 2 weeks or so I think, but finally had an accident induced by starvation weakness. Within 10 miles of a major city, I think Seattle. I actually think it was about 6 miles. He was found just a couple days later.
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 04-06-2013 at 13:16.

  9. #9
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    That's unfortunate ^

  10. #10

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    Sometimes, it's just nice to wander.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dogwood View Post
    Sometimes, it's just nice to wander.
    Very true, but a bad idea if you lack basic skills.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

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