A lesson in navigation.

A LESSON IN NAVIGATION

It all started out innocent enough.  I was out at Bear Haven and i wanted to get some photos of the very unique rock formations.  I had been here many times in the past.  It was only going to take around 30 min to make the circle around the upper formations and the lower ones to get the shot that I wanted.  So here is where I made my first of MANY mistakes of the day.  I decided that since I wasn't going to be out for long I really didn't need to bring my pack with me.  That was strike number one.  Strike number two came when I made the conscious decision not to grab my camel back out of the truck.  I mean after all I’m going to be an easy 10 minute walk from the truck right and only out for a short time.  Why carry the extra weight.  Ok gentle reader, you are probably sitting there in your easy chair right now thinking too yourself that you would never do these things.  You have too much back country experience to make these rookie mistakes.  Besides you are (insert your name here) you don't have to worry about it. You are too good at wilderness skills to ever think about getting lost in the woods. Especially somewhere take you have been many times in the past.  You have no worries. Right? Well you’re wrong!  It can and will happen to you!  It happened to me.  Not to sit here and blow sunshine up your ass about how good I am or anything like that but i will give you a few of my qualifications, I have taken many different land navigation courses in my time in the US Army.  I have navigated my way throughout North and South America and other wonderfully engaging areas of the world with no issues.  I have instructed land navigation for over five years for both the Military ROTC and the Scouts. I know land navigation. Ok and now for the coups de grace and for strike three.  I didn't leave an itinerary with anyone and had only told one other person where I was going to be and that was only in the vaguest of ways...  I have now dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's on what could be my own death warrant.   Now all that I needed was for that one little thing to throw everything into a spiral.

So, now to get on with the story at hand.  I left the truck sitting in the parking lot after grabbing my camera.  You know the big one with the long lens. I obviously wasn't thinking about weight at this point. The day before had been a wonderful day, meeting new people and climbing on some new routes at Reed's Creek.  It was a very full day of climbing indeed.  I decided at the end of that day, on the spur of the moment that I would head up to bear haven.  I camped in the campground and got up early with visions going through my head from times gone by when I was happier and younger and hadn't yet seen the world with that thin vainer of decency ripped away. It was a simpler time.  I was young and out on an adventure with my family. My mom was there and my dad.  We had stopped here on our way through to somewhere else and discovered this amazing place that none of us had heard about or seen before hiding here on this little piece of a ridge tucked in next to Otter Creek wilderness.  I was remembering the that I had in days past running ahead of my parents and exploring all the canyons that looked to a little fellow like the grand canyon.  I remember thinking to myself that day as a child that I wanted to be able to climb on rock.  That I wanted to be an explorer and climber and how cool it would be to stand where no man had ever stood before.  To climb the un-climbable.  Too be, THE MAN. The thoughts of a child have turned into the memories of a man.  To say I was distracted as I was walking down memory lane would probably be the understatement of the year.  My mind was a million miles and a quarter century away.

                So now you know the circumstances surrounding how it happened.  I could have changed the outcome by any of the precautions that I would have normally taken.  Like just picking up my day pack and taking that along like I normally would have.  The contents of which would have saved me a lot of time and a lot of walking.  I always have in the pack, Water, Toilet Paper, A Compass and some power bars.  Just these few items can and will keep your sorry butt alive. You will see where I’m going with this in a little while, so, bear with me just a little bit longer and you will see for yourself how just how much one single think can ruin your day and maybe your life.

            It all started out as harmless enough.  After about an hour walking down memory lane and doing some light bouldering and exploring the lines of misplaced bolts that I found, I had to use the bathroom.  This is never a really big deal.  If I had brought my pack with me I would not have even given it a second thought.  But, I didn’t so I had one of two options left.  I could find some nice soft leaves to wipe my butt with or I could beat a hasty retreat to the parking lot where there was an outhouse.  I chose option two.  Now as anyone will tell you the shortest distance between two points, is almost always a straight line.  So I picked the direction for the parking lot and headed off.  It was at this point that I realized that things where stating to get a little desperate and that I needed to pick up the pace.  So if you are not familiar with the area let me give you a run down and a few pictures.  This is one of the few crags that still have giant rhododendron growing around the rock.  At most of the Craig’s they have been cut down and basically destroyed. So in between all of the different rock formations the brush and the under growth is very thick. It is very reminiscent of a double canopy jungle in a few places.  So you have giant rhododendron bushes, Blue Berry bushes, thick pines and Hemlock trees, a lot of which have succumbed to the blight now and have turned into blow downs.

In the picture above you can see a little bit of what the terrain looks like and just a little bit of what the foliage looks like.  I was heading through it head on.  I had a very pressing situation to take care of before my lower intestines exploded everywhere.  I don’t really know at what point I became aware of the fact that I was fighting a losing battle, but eventually I did and I did the only thing left to do.  I dropped my pants and leaned back against a rock and defecated.  Feeling much relieved I started the process of looking for some leaf’s that looked like they would be nice and tender and not cause too much damage to the tender area’s  but still get the job done in a quick and clean manner.  My choice, giant rhododendron leaves. Slightly rolled, between two hands until tender. This seemed to work very well while still not causing and damage.  So I have now taken care of the bathroom problem.  Now, to get back to the trail, and get on with the walk down memory lane.  Oh but wait a minute here, in my rush to get to the outhouse I have forgotten another very simple tool of navigation.  Look behind yourself as you go.  This may seem like a very simple thing but you would be surprised at the difference that it will make when you have to retrace your steps on the way back out from where ever it is that you went.  Just take that second to look over your shoulder and take in what you see.  Your brain will just about automatically store the information until such a time as you need it.  After a while it becomes second nature and you don’t even have to make the conscious decision to do it.  But this was just one more thing that in my rush to the outhouse that I had forgotten.  As I looked around, I realized that I wasn’t a hundred percent sure of where I was at any more. So I went off of what my gut told me to do.  So I started off in the direction toward where I thought that my truck would be.  After around 600 yards fighting the brush and the giant rhododendron it finally dawned on me that the parking lot was not this far on the walk in.  So now gentle reader here is where I finally dawned on me that I really didn’t have a clue as to where I was or how to get back to the truck.

It was at this point that I realized the gravity of the situation that I had gotten myself into.

It started with leaving my pack in the truck with my maps and compass.  Then I didn’t take any water with me. And I have a real serious thirst right now due to my time busting through brush. The third and the one that could have very well killed me, not telling anyone where I had went.  The deadly trifecta has come into my life.  It was at this point that I realized that this could well be my last trip. I could very well die up here if one other thing happens.  You know like falling off of a ledge, Getting snake bit, falling down and breaking a leg or arm climbing through the blow downs.

            So now that you have found yourself in the deep end of the pool, just what do you do to get your proverbial butt out of the fire?  At this point you have a couple of options,

1.      You can try to backtrack yourself till you reach something that is familiar.  This is why it is a very good idea and I highly recommend that you turn to look behind you when you are walking through the woods or on a trail.  When you head in the other direction you will be amazed at how much different things look.

2.      You can orientate yourself by looking for a prominent terrain features.  An example of this would be if you are standing on a finger coming off of a ridgeline.  You can see that the finger comes down into a valley.  In the valley you know that there is a river.  You know that by walking up river you will reach your vehicle.  So from the terrain around you, you now know that you have to walk down a finger into a valley then follow the river, up river to your vehicle.

3.      You can get to high ground from where you can orientate yourself from.  Ok this one sound’s very simple but you can get yourself into trouble with it.  What you want to do is get yourself up as high as you can.  This is very useful if you are in a very brushy area.  Get yourself onto a rock outcrop or up a tree.  From the elevated position you will be able to see over the brush and orientate yourself relatively easily.

There are a few things that you don’t want to do,

1.      Wander aimlessly. If you do this you will get yourself hopelessly lost and more than likely start walking in a big circle.

2.      If you are unable to orientate yourself stay where you are.  It will make the rescuers job much easier if they don’t have to track you in wandering circles.

3.      DO NOT TAKE UNDO RISKS!  I cannot stress this enough.  Don’t compound your problems by breaking a bone from taking a fall.  If you do you will be lost and immobile which means that you will almost be dead.

Ok now that you have a little bit of an idea of what not to do, and what to do here is what I did.  I immediately started to make some guesses as to where I needed to go.  I have spent the last 25 years of my life not getting lost anywhere in the world.  I’ve got this.  At least that is what I told myself as I walked in circles and wandered aimlessly around trying to convince myself that I had found where I needed to go.  I wandered in such a fashion for around an hour until I came to the realization that I WAS LOST.  So after this realization I knew the steps that I had to take to get back on the right track.  I tried to get the high ground but I just couldn’t get high enough on the ground to figure out where I needed to go.  So at this point I knew that it was up the tree for me.  As soon as I got above the brush I could see how the terrain laid and in which direction that I needed to go to get back to the truck. 

It is not a very nice feeling to be totally lost.  I hope that you never find yourself in the same position as I found myself in this tale.  But as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west if you continue to spend time out in the wilds, It will happen to you at least ounce.  I can only hope that some of the suggestions that I have laid out here may be of help to you.

Be well my friends,

Pyro