STEVEM
01-07-2007, 09:59
This story is not directly related to the AT, but it does point to much of the good advice I have read here.
Yesterday the weather was really nice so I decided to do a little peakbagging. My normal winter turnaround time is 2:00 PM and I was very close to that time as I reached the summit of Cornell Mountain. My plan was to reach the summit viewpoint and immediately turnaround so as to reach my car at sunset.
At the viewpoint, there was a young man carrying a small fanny pack and accompanied by a medium sized older dog. I said hello and turned to leave. At that point he asked me if I thought he could leave the trail and take a shortcut back to his car by bushwacking through the forest. The direction he was looking was to the south toward Friday Mtn. This area has no trails and is ruled by balsam thickets and blowdown so dense that you can't see two feet and sometimes you need to crawl to get through. The mountain is also fronted by a cliff nearly a mile long.
Based on his questions I realized that he was lost. I determined that he thought he was on Table Mtn. which is 5 straightline or 10 trail miles to the southwest. Table Mtn is equally remote and even further from his car. I showed him my map, and he asked me if I was sure about what I was telling him. I assured him that I was.
I told him that he needed to simply follow the trail back up Slide Mtn and back down to his car a distance of about 6 miles. He said he couldn't because the backside of Slide was too steep for the dog. I then showed him the route in the opposite direction (from which I came) and offered to hike with him to my car and drive him back to his car. He declined my offer and quickly left in the direction I had shown him. I expected to see him waiting for me at the trailhead, but he wasn't there. If he did successfully loop back to his car, his hike would be about 17 miles with 5000-6000 ft of elevation change, at least 5 miles in the dark.
The lessons here as I see them:
1. Always carry a map.
2. Always carry some equipment in anticipation of the unexpected.
3. Don't leave a marked trail if you are lost.
4. Don't exceed the abilities of your dog.
5. If you need help then ask.
6. If help is offered, consider accepting.
Yesterday the weather was really nice so I decided to do a little peakbagging. My normal winter turnaround time is 2:00 PM and I was very close to that time as I reached the summit of Cornell Mountain. My plan was to reach the summit viewpoint and immediately turnaround so as to reach my car at sunset.
At the viewpoint, there was a young man carrying a small fanny pack and accompanied by a medium sized older dog. I said hello and turned to leave. At that point he asked me if I thought he could leave the trail and take a shortcut back to his car by bushwacking through the forest. The direction he was looking was to the south toward Friday Mtn. This area has no trails and is ruled by balsam thickets and blowdown so dense that you can't see two feet and sometimes you need to crawl to get through. The mountain is also fronted by a cliff nearly a mile long.
Based on his questions I realized that he was lost. I determined that he thought he was on Table Mtn. which is 5 straightline or 10 trail miles to the southwest. Table Mtn is equally remote and even further from his car. I showed him my map, and he asked me if I was sure about what I was telling him. I assured him that I was.
I told him that he needed to simply follow the trail back up Slide Mtn and back down to his car a distance of about 6 miles. He said he couldn't because the backside of Slide was too steep for the dog. I then showed him the route in the opposite direction (from which I came) and offered to hike with him to my car and drive him back to his car. He declined my offer and quickly left in the direction I had shown him. I expected to see him waiting for me at the trailhead, but he wasn't there. If he did successfully loop back to his car, his hike would be about 17 miles with 5000-6000 ft of elevation change, at least 5 miles in the dark.
The lessons here as I see them:
1. Always carry a map.
2. Always carry some equipment in anticipation of the unexpected.
3. Don't leave a marked trail if you are lost.
4. Don't exceed the abilities of your dog.
5. If you need help then ask.
6. If help is offered, consider accepting.