Why is it that some people are just more prone to getting lost than others? Two brothers side-by-side could have distinctly different tracking skills. One could know instinctively where to go while the other walks around aimlessly in circles. A good sense of direction is something that you should never take for granted. It can mean the difference of life or death if your hiker or backpacker.
Why Can Some People Find Their Way and Others Can’t?
Researchers have been wondering for years why some people find their way with the ease while others struggle. They believe that it probably has something to do with the chemistry of our brains. People could be born with some sense of direction and they either develop it or lose it with age. Another possible answer is that some cultures value recognizing slight distinctions in their environment that others overlook. The whole idea of cityfolk being lost in the wilderness might not just be coincidence.
Getting Lost With a Phones GPS
I cringe every time someone tells me they won’t get lost because they have their cell phone in their pocket. Yes cell phones do have a GPS and they can generally find your location no matter where you are, but what happens when you don’t have it. You never know what’s going to happen your phone out on a hike. Your phone could lose signal, fall in water, the screen could crack making it useless,(My LG G3’s Screen wouldn’t do anything when I dropped it in Utah’s Red Canyon). your battery could die or you could flat-out lose it.
There’s no guaranteeing that you’ll have your phone when you need it. Whenever I go backpacking I toss one of these cheap solar chargers in my pack just in case my battery dies, but that does me no good if my phone gets lost or destroyed. If you go hiking and backpacking often you should also consider buying a dedicated GPS meant for the outdoors. I’ve long ditched the GPS I kept in my car, but I always toss my old Garmin Handheld into my bag. Not only does it get better reception away from civilization, they typically have a really long battery life and you can quickly swap out the double AA batteries with fresh ones.
What to Do If Your Lost in The Wilderness
No matter how prepared you think you are there’s always a possibility of getting lost out in the wilderness. You could’ve traveled those trails for years and still get lost the second the sun goes down or snow falls on the ground. The bottom line is no matter how good you think you are with directions you should always have a backup plan. You can’t go through life always relying on your GPS (at least not now anyway) you need to learn how to rely on your natural instincts to find your way. Who knows someday your phone might die and you’ll have more problems than just missing out on your Facebook feed.
Preparing at Home Before Your Hiking or Camping Trip
Not everything is done in the forest. Some things you just need to learn before you go out there. Whenever I go on multiple day backpacking trips I like to do a little bit of preparing beforehand. Not only will most of these preparations help me on the trip they are a good basic knowledge to help you in the future.
Study Topographical Maps: Studying topographical maps is something that’s often overlooked in this generation. With such a reliance on modern GPS we forget just how important topographical maps actually are in the field. Anytime I go out on unfamiliar terrain I print out the topographical maps and google maps satellite view. I would also highly recommend comparing the topographical map to the satellite view to look for steep inclines and cliffs not represented on the topographical map. Having those two maps will greatly increase your chance of recognizing landmarks in the field.- Learn Basic Orientation Skills: Seems like orientation skills are a thing of the past and that’s really a shame. When I was in school we learned basic orientation skills in gym class over the course of a few months. We used basic map and compass to find our way around the local trails. Everybody knows how to find North, but very few people know how to use a compass to plot a course on a map. That really is a shame because it’s an indispensable survival skill that will probably take you less than a day to master. At the very least make a not of where East, West, North and South are when you pull into the parking lot.
Learn Constellations: Honestly learning constellations is a skill that I’m still working on. The Polynesians were able to navigate the seas using nothing more than the stars and their namesake polynesian star compass. Celestial navigation allowed them to become arguably the world’s best explorers. You don’t need to navigate like a Polynesian but it would definitely be beneficial to at least locate the North Star so you can find your bearings.- Rest Up: Getting enough rest isn’t necessarily a skill but it is a requirement. Without proper rest you won’t be able to think the way that you should be out in the field. The brain is much more adapt at storing and receiving information with proper sleep. With the right amount of sleep and concentration you might not get lost in the first place.
- Tell Someone Where Your Going: It doesn’t matter if you’re going on a short day hike or hiking the Appalachian Trail you should always tell someone where you’re going and when they should expect to hear from you. That way if you don’t turn up for a day or two after your trip someone will come looking. Personally I like to leave a map of my planned route on the kitchen counter before I leave my house. If I ever go missing hopefully my parents or siblings check my house first and find the map I left them. That should give rescuers a good idea of where to start their search.
How To Find The Trail if You Get Lost in The Woods
Even if you done everything you could to prepare you can still get lost in the forest. Hell even experienced hikers are known to get lost every once in a while. It’s almost a requirement it’s almost a requirement after backpacking for a fair number years. Everybody gets lost at some point, but that doesn’t mean it has to ruin your hiking trip. How you respond to losing your way will mean the difference between being lost for a few minutes or lost for days.
Find Your Bearings: The first thing you need to do when you get lost is resist the urge to keep charging down the path. This is what really separates that knowledgeable survivalist from the beginner. Experience teaches you to calm down and take a pause before you rush off further into the forest. Simply cool down for a couple minutes and orientate yourself with the compass to get a general sense of direction. Make sure the compass matches what you see on the map and try to determine which direction you are moving in. If you don’t pay attention you can quickly go off course the second you move around something in your path.- Physically Point Back Where You Need To Go:Pointing in the general direction that you need to travel has been shown to help people orientate themselves in unfamiliar surroundings. It’s almost like you can lock onto way point and walk to it, rather than just walking in the correct general direction.
- Try To Recognize Landmarks: Yes I know that recognizing landmarks is easier said than done, but it is crucial to finding your way. If you have a printout of the satellite view of the area you can reference that to pinpoint landmarks. Without a satellite view hopefully you have a regular map that should allow you to find streams, rivers and ponds. Once you find a landmark that you can recognize finding your way back to camp will be easy ill be easy. It may also help you to speak out loud mentioning common landmarks. Saying things like along the row of pine trees, beside the big rock, Lake on the left is surprisingly helpful when trying to recall where you’ve been.
- Stay Focused on Your Surroundings: Doesn’t matter if you’re listening to music talking to a friend or just generally not paying attention you will get lost. A general lack of attention is the number one reason people get lost in the wilderness. Don’t just assume that the other person knows where they’re going. Actively take an interest in your surroundings so that you maintain a good general sense of direction.
- Take a Snapshot of Your Surroundings: As you walk around the trail take a mental snapshot of your surroundings, or even better a physical one with your phone. You’d be surprised just how helpful standing still for a minute and looking back where you’ve been actually is. Physically looking backwards down the trail will really help if you lose your bearings.
What are Your First Priorities?
So you’re officially lost and can’t find the trail. What should you do now? The last thing you want to do is put yourself in an even worse situation. Experts have long said to stand still and try not to put yourself deeper into the woods. There are certain states that you can walk through the woods for days without seeing signs of civilization.
Try not to expend more energy than necessary and try to find water, shelter and make a fire.The first thing you’re going to need to do is find some form of shelter and create a fire. Your biggest risk is facing hypothermia which is a result of loss of body heat. Every year people die due to hypothermia and most of the time it’s a result of falling in the river while hiking or fishing and failing to dry off before night time. Even during the summer it can drop into the 40s which is cold enough to kill you. Without fire and shelter you’ll have a difficult time surviving the night.
What are Your Chances of Rescue?
No matter what you do on the woods your chances of rescue are actually pretty high. Unless you just went off into the wilderness without telling anyone they’ll probably send help sooner rather than later. It’s actually pretty difficult to retrace your steps so at a certain point you should hunker down for rescue. Any movement you make just makes it that much harder to find you during a rescue operation.
Only you can determine how long you want to wait to get rescued. Remember you can only go three days without water (maybe less during the summer) so waiting it out might not be possible. Your main job while waiting for rescue is to make it easy for rescuers to find you. Try and find an open area that they can spot you from air and leave behind a trail of breadcrumbs pointing in your direction.
Conserve Your Energy
Once there is absolutely no chance you’re going to find your own way out you need to start conserving your energy.Your body needs energy to keep itself form and you’ll probably have less food and water than you need. Check out my post on backpacking water filters if you don’t have a plan to get water out in the wild. Throwing some cheap potable Aqua Purification Tablets or a Lifestraw in your pack could just mean the difference between life and death.
When looking for water remember that it always flows downhill. If you’re in the mountains or hilly areas you’ll probably need to head downhill as well. You’re going to want to both look for signs of water and listen as well. The added benefit of finding water is that’s where rescuers are most likely to start their search.