Lost

[Leo L.]

when you say 'our country' you mean Austria, correct?

Exactly.
We have no kangaroos because they would bounce cross border with the next leap <G>

But still a lot of people get lost here, mostly because they lose the path and get stuck in steep slopes or cliffs.
We have a highly developed rescue system, all ground people volunteers (add in some helicopters from police and road emergency), and usually its free and health insurance will pay the copter.
In addition to the fact that cell reception covers most of Austria (including most mountain ranges) rescuers are pretty busy all year round. Read: All too often tired/scared hikers/climbers misuse the rescue system.

There has been one famous "lost" story here in the mid-80ties when an American Germany-based military member named Kenneth T. Cichowicz took a multi-day hike over several mountain ranges in an off-season time.
He fell and broke his hand, leg and cracked some ribs and got stuck in a very odd place down a glacier high up the mountain near here. Nobody knew about his going, and only when he didn't come back from his leave ~2 weeks later he was missed - but still nobody had any idea where he really was, so they were looking in a 200km distant range, and skipped the futil search after many days.
Aside of the off-season there still were some people, snow machines, helicopters and the like around his place at times, but nobody would notice his tent in this very odd place, and he had no ways to make note of himself.
Only after 19 days of suffering, already half-dead, he was found and got rescued.
His case became pretty famous at times because he had done most everything perfectly right as far as it comes to survival (he did some not-so-perfect things that led to the accident though).

http://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichte...171762,1973202

[ADVStrom14]

We own several acres of wooded land that has a stream that runs through it. The stream is joined by another stream at the southwest corner of the land and I have gone back in there and found a great camp site where I have built a fire ring and cleared a few small trees to make a little compound. After Matthew dumped 16" of rain in 24 hours and flooded the surrounding area, I went back to the camp site to see the damage. I worked some and cleaned up a little and noticed how the run overflowing had completely shifted the landscape. When I came out of the camp site I started following the run to head out, as I have done a thousand times before, I got so turned around that I was heading in the complete opposite direction of where I wanted to head. I noticed I had left the stand of hardwood trees that I should have been walking through and I was now deep into a stand of eastern white pines that are nowhere near where I was supposed to be. It's one thing to be lost in a place you have never been. Its an entirely different thing to be lost in an area where you have traversed many many times!

[bigcranky]

** Authorities think she went off trail for a bathroom break and couldn't get back to the trail. Is this even possible? I mean, I leave my pack and go 10 feet off the trail with my pack still visible.

** Texted her husband several times to no avail.

Sure it's possible, certainly if one goes further than ten feet. I think many/most people go farther than that. It's easy enough to get turned around and confused about the way back to the trail, especially with thick underbrush, then head back the way you think you remember except you're heading the wrong way. After that you're probably toast, especially in the north woods, especially with anxiety/panic issues.

None of her texts were actually sent - no service.

There was a lot of armchair quarterbacking about this at the time, but I think the real takeaway should be just how easy it is to be lulled into a false complacency and stop paying careful attention to things around you -- and not just on the trail. We would all love to think we'd never be so dumb as to step off the trail to pee and be lost forever, but I'm willing to bet we are all in situations where this is a possibility.

[ADVStrom14]

We would all love to think we'd never be so dumb as to step off the trail to pee and be lost forever, but I'm willing to bet we are all in situations where this is a possibility.

I'm fixing to hike the BMT and this is my biggest fear.

[rocketsocks]

I'm fixing to hike the BMT and this is my biggest fear.

well then you should understand how to determine the cardinal directions, night or day, and familiarize yourself with the major roads that boarder the area where you'll be hiking (think Macro not Micro)...in a pinch ya bail to one of those. Staying found will keep you from getting lost.

[pickNgrin]

I like this guy's style. It is a story about how he got lost and then unlost.

[jefals]

I've gotten lost many times for various reasons, most if not all having to do with inexperience. When I go off trail and can't find my way back, it's generally because I wasn't paying attention. one time going north, I walked a few feet off the trail to admire the view, then I turned around, came back to the trail, and started walking south! Well, when you're lucky enough to live thru your mistakes, you learn from them, and I don't get list so much anymore. 😊

[jjozgrunt]

Because it is easy to get turned around when you wander off the track is the reason to take your pack with you everywhere. Saw advice on here to leave your pack on the trail, that way people will know someone is missing. Won't help you at all while you freeze, starve, dehydrate or suffer from exposure.

[Tipi Walter]

Because it is easy to get turned around when you wander off the track is the reason to take your pack with you everywhere. Saw advice on here to leave your pack on the trail, that way people will know someone is missing. Won't help you at all while you freeze, starve, dehydrate or suffer from exposure.

Leaving you pack---reminds me of a story of a trip back in January 2012 when Little Mitten dropped me off on Huckleberry Mt at 5,600 feet in the mountains of NC in terrible conditions---cold, high winds, thick fog. It was my first trip to old Huck and I wanted to camp on top of the highest mountain in the Unicoi Mt range.

Little Mitten didn't stand around long in the cold wind so she took off and drove off the mountain from the trailhead and I started my 18 day winter backpacking trip excited to camp on top of the Huck. I started up the trailhead and crossed over Oak Bald and then came Huckleberry Knob where I found the white metal cross of two long-ago hikers who died up here on a winter romp.

I reached the top of the Huck which is an open bald but it was too foggy to see much so I descended a short distance and found a treeline circling the entire mountain right below the bald and I hiked around the circle until I found the continuation of the trail to Little Huck Knob. I returned to the top of the Huck but didn't want to set up in the direct blasts of the wind so I retreated back down to the trail to Little Huck and about 200 feet into the trees found a decent level place for my tent but I wasn't sure so I dumped my pack at this spot and went on a bushwack exploration of more possible sites.

Well, I lost the faint trail and I also lost my pack as I stumbled around the side of Huckleberry Knob in a thick fog frenzy. The only thing I could do was keep climbing and eventually I'd reach the very top of the Huck and then start over and circle it to find the Little Huck trailhead again and possibly find my pack stuck off the trail in the middle of nowhere. It was a crappy first day start to a trip. Cold wind, very windy, thick fog.

After many minutes of panic I finally located my giant pack and hugged it close to me. The trip could continue!!!!


Little Mitten at the Huckleberry Knob trailhead at around 5,600 feet. Cold, windy, fog.



I reach the top of Huck Knob and wonder, "Is this cross for me???". It belongs to two hikers who died up here many years ago.


This is the level place I found off the knob and where I dumped my pack to check out other sites and got lost. Eventually found it again and found my pack and set up camp.

MORAL OF THE STORY---
Never dump your pack when exploring a new trail or exploring around a trail on a bushwack. Keep your pack with you always.

[Tipi Walter]

Because it is easy to get turned around when you wander off the track is the reason to take your pack with you everywhere. Saw advice on here to leave your pack on the trail, that way people will know someone is missing. Won't help you at all while you freeze, starve, dehydrate or suffer from exposure.

You posted this just as I was writing up my report. Agree totally.

[Brian Doyle]

After absorbing the Largay report I think what happened was she turned up the woods road going up the side of Orbeton Stream thinking it was the AT. By the time she noticed she wasn't on the trail she surmised her position and cut rightward into the woods under the logic that she would transect the trail. When she didn't cut back across the At she panicked and went to high ground seeking a cell phone signal.

The reason I think this is because if you look at the analysis of her cell phone record and diary she gave two different reasons for getting off the trail. One was having to go to the bathroom and the other was "taking a wrong turn right after the stream". I believe the latter was the real reason and the reason she said she got lost after having to go to the bathroom was because she didn't want to admit to her husband that she didn't have the wherewithall to follow the trail because he might pull her off the trail seeing how Maine was dangerous.

I've seen people say she probably had a mild stroke or alzheimers. I don't think so because her actions show cogent awareness of the seriousness of her situation and staying in one place. I think she thought her cell might be tracked even if it were out of range of sending. Her diary entries are too well thought out for any mental compromise.

You can find her precise location coordinates in the Washington Post comments section for their article. It was only a painful 3000 feet from the trail as well as 3000 feet from the Orbeton Stream railroad bed woods road. The reason I offer this speculation is because Gerry Largay didn't do the logical thing and backtrack downhill to the woods road. It makes sense to me that the reason she didn't do that is because that is the area she had come from so she considered that the 'lost' direction.

Something similar happened to me on Cube Mt when I decided, after taking a false trail, that I could intersect the AT by bushwacking. I was lucky to find the trail and had actually walked across it without noticing and only found it because I went back to double check.

This is gross but very smart: She should have smeared her poop on trees around her tent to increase her scent plume.

[ldsailor]

I got off the AT this year to go down to a meadow and check out some horses. Instead of climbing back up to the known trail, I saw another trail that seemed to parallel the AT. With no basis in fact, I assumed this trail would rejoin the AT. WRONG! As dark approached, I became concerned. Fortunately, I had Guthook on my phone and used it to navigate (and bushwack) back to the White blaze trail.

In this day of smartphones and cheap apps, it's a good idea to make use of them so you don't end up like that poor woman in Maine.

[dervari]

Her fatal mistake was leaving her SPOT locator at the hotel. I can't fathom why she had one, yet opted to hit the trail without it.

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[SkeeterPee]

Recently we went on a hike with some friends on the trail. Our "all-knowing"leader took us on a new side trail north of Duncannon, PA. We had to see this, a breath taking view of the river. Well, we got to the side route and it turned out to be a Deer trail. No matter, it promised to have great views. One trail lead to another and soon we were not only lost but off the map and no one knew where we where. What should've been a simple four mile hike turned into a ten mile hike. We got back to the car at sunset. Has anyone got this lost before?

From a trail point of view, was this near hawk rock on the AT south of Duncannon? There is a nice view by going down the opposite side than the AT takes down the hill. They both end up at the same place at the bottom. Maybe the problem was lookin on the wrong side of Duncannon.

Getting a little lost is not a big problem and gives you something to talk about.

[MuddyWaters]

Theres lots of places on trails where unmarked but well trodden paths to interesting areas, rock formations, overlooks, etc lead but ultimately peter out. Sometimes with numerous intersecting variants that cover the area. If you take these, its not that difficult to lose way back to main trail for a while.

When something stops looking like major trail...it usually isnt. Although I can recall a few spots where I questioned if AT was still AT or a deer trail. Generally its obvious if you stop and think. I agree...never leave your pack for any reason.

[garlic08]

...When something stops looking like major trail...it usually isnt. Although I can recall a few spots where I questioned if AT was still AT or a deer trail. Generally its obvious if you stop and think. I agree...never leave your pack for any reason.

I've witnessed experienced hikers walk right off the AT at a water bar drain, then look confused as it peters out.

There seems to be a serious aversion to walking back up hill when you've made a mistake. I think that alone causes a lot of problems.

Mountaineer Gerry Roach has a quote I like to remember, "Never leave your lunch behind."

I saw another great quote, "Adventure is what happens when some idiot loses the map."

[jj dont play]

On my thru hike I maybe veered off 3-4 times, correcting myself quickly every time but once. On the Long trail portion there's a few old logging roads well I hit one of these and some branches were laid across the trail ahead and I saw foot steps down the old road so I followed that thinking the trail was not the AT and someone blocked it like typical with little off shoots. After a while of no blazes I wasn't sure if there just weren't many blazes there, which happens or if I went the wrong way. I decided to back track and take the trail that was blocked. After a few steps I finally saw a blaze.
I probably veered .25 off then backtracked so really only added about a half mile. Some branches just fell on the trail and being zoned Out and focused I just figured it was done intentionally and blindly followed footsteps.


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[ScareBear]

Her fatal mistake was leaving her SPOT locator at the hotel. I can't fathom why she had one, yet opted to hit the trail without it.

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RIP. She had issues beyond physical health. She was easily disoriented, easily confused, when frustrated would not reason but argue, and was on numerous meds. She had memory issues. Her hiking "aid" has repeatedly told of how she couldn't find her way on the trail without assistance. Its a sad tale. She should have never been hiking alone, with or without her SPOT.

[MuddyWaters]

I followed trail right to creek I knew a trail crossed once. Only it seemed to cross several parallel branches at this spot instead of one as shown on map (first clue) Crossing was a bit more difficult than I expected, but there were other footprints in sandy areas between rocks. After boulder hopping and searching for trail on other side, retracing and trying different routes for over an hour it was getting dark. I backtracked 1/4 mile or so to what I was 100% sure was main trail and camped for night.

Next morning gave it a new attempt. It was clear where I went wrong. I stepped over a limb blocking that side trail without seeing it, did not even notice bend in main trail that was plain as day. Missed it when retraced steps too.

Most times Ive run into such situations Ive been moderately dehydrated cranking out miles. Ive learned that whenever the map doesnt agree , STOP. Map is usually right.

Actual crossing was about another half mile up trail .

[One Half]

I got off the AT this year to go down to a meadow and check out some horses. Instead of climbing back up to the known trail, I saw another trail that seemed to parallel the AT. With no basis in fact, I assumed this trail would rejoin the AT. WRONG! As dark approached, I became concerned. Fortunately, I had Guthook on my phone and used it to navigate (and bushwack) back to the White blaze trail.

In this day of smartphones and cheap apps, it's a good idea to make use of them so you don't end up like that poor woman in Maine.

She had no signal. The app wouldn't have helped.