Getting lost in the woods is a common fear, but I propose that it’s also largely an unnecessary fear for most people if they are willing to do just a slight bit of preparation, planning and are carrying a few inexpensive, basic items.
I’m going to be using “lost in the woods” to cover all remote terrain, not just heavily wooded areas. Additionally you won’t hear me talking about GPS, satellite phones, cell phones or apps. Smart people who travel into the outback don’t rely on electronics.
Prepare to not get lost
Preparation is the key to not getting lost in the woods in the first place, and it’s also the key to surviving comfortably if you do manage to get turned around beyond you ability to figure out where you are.
I wrote out this simple, basic checklist about how not to get lost, and it covers nearly any situation I can think of.
1) Know where you are going, by compass direction.
2) Tell somebody where you are going.
3) Tell somebody when you should be back.
4) Don’t travel alone.
5) Have TWO reliable non-electrical compass devices before you even start, and make sure they both are in agreement as to which direction due magnetic north is. Close isn’t close enough, they need to be dead-on accurate.
6) Study a map before you head out, so you will know what you will run into if you travel north, south, east or west. Where are the ridges? Which way do they run? Where are the valleys? Where are the creeks and the rivers (and dry creek and river beds)? Which way do those creeks and rivers go?
7) Study a satellite image of the area, noting where any power line or pipeline right-of-ways and fire roads are.
8) Take at least one copy of a map that details the area. (Waterproof varieties are best; failing that use ziplocks.)
Heading out
Now that you know where you are going, you have estimated the time that it will take for you guys to get there and back and have communicated all of this with people who are staying behind, I recommend the following:
1) Go over your hiking plan and route, in detail with your hiking partner or partners. Have everybody review their own map and study the terrain with their compass.
2) Develop a plan about what to do if your group is accidentally separated.
3) Select an appropriate meet-up / rendezvous point, and determine the amount of time the person who gets there should wait. Also decide if they’ll turn back or head on to the goal if the rendezvous is not made.
4) Make note of any and all tall landmarks.
5) On the map, make sure that everybody knows where water features and impassible terrain are.
Here’s an example of map / satellite study
The following is a picture of one of the most remote & barren places in the country, out in the middle of the Nebraska Sand Hills. You want alone? This is your place.
The scale of this map is about 1/2 inch to the mile. Let’s say for some reason you decide to leave the lovely Merritt Reservoir’s sugar sand beaches to hike to the Niobrara River Bridge on Nebraska 16F. You know you are in for a ton of up-and-down sand hills with no landmarks anywhere.
The only way you are going to make it across is by using your compass and keeping NW heading of 320 degrees. All you ave to do is keep to this heading as well as you can and you will either hit the Niobrara River Valley if you go too far north, or 16F if you go too far west.
Again, looking at the map above you see some major water features, but what does it tell you?
You have the Merritt Dam, which is holding back a sizable lake. What does that mean? Well, water flows downhill. Look at the drainage of everything you can see in this picture. It all shows water flowing downhill, which in this case is north and east. There’s only two significant waterways, but lots of empty draws. The waterway in the middle drains to the northeast into the main Niobrara River flows from west to east.
If you know all of these things ahead of time, it makes getting lost temporary, even an area this remote and apparently featureless.
Garden of the Gods in Southern Illinois (yes, there are several places called Garden of the Gods in the USA)
So what are the tricky parts?
(Spice here, because I’ve found a couple of ways to get lost despite good plans.)
The most common way I (and hikers I’ve talked to) found to get confused is to come to an intersection where none was expected. Not all side trails are marked; and some game trails are robust enough to be mistaken for human-made trails. It can also be hard to know how far you’ve walked.
Paying attention to walking time and knowing your speed helps. I walk about 3.5 mph around town, but average only a little over 2 mph (rests included) when I know I’ll be hiking mountains all day with a full pack. Also be alert for how your path compares to what you expected, so you can notice if you’ve gone astray. Have major landmarks in mind to keep oriented.
Compasses are also harder to follow in short little segments. Get to where you have the best sight line you can manage and pick a distant mark in your heading. Aim for it rather than being slavish about being on direction every step of the way. This lets you walk around obstacles without losing your sense of place.
Let’s say none of this matters and you still get lost
Once you realize you are lost, stop and assess everything you know with your team members. Stay calm, and DO NOT start a blamestorm. Blame doesn’t matter while you are lost, only getting to safety does.
You are in this together, as a team, assuming you followed my recommendations up to this point. Nearly everything applies to solo hikers as well, but it’s far better off to be in a team of at least two because now that you are lost, your Stuff has Hit The Fan (SHTF).
If and when you decide to move, it’s time to get back on the same routine. Keep heading in your prefered direction and be safe. (IF?? Yes. If searchers will be looking for you, staying in one spot makes their job easier. Get somewhere where you can see and be seen and make yourself obvious.)
Once you are lost
1) Get out your compass and pick the direction you think will lead you to help the quickest. This direction may change when you hit a water feature or impassible terrain but it’s a good place to start.
2) Keep shelter locations in mind as you are traveling (sheltered from exposure, safe from flash flood, etc). If you are in a place with little natural cover, do not shelter at the top of hills if there is any indication of storms, or in dry stream beds.
3) When you hit running water or a dry waterbed, follow it downhill. Honestly, if you’ve done your research this in itself should give you a good idea of where you are going. Water flows downhill, and streams flow into rivers… and you should know where the rivers run in any region you are traveling.
4) If you hit any fence lines, consider following them around. Fences eventually mean people. Remember, although it’s not a firm rule, fences are generally set on property lines which generally run due north & south or east & west. Do not just climb over the fences and trundle on. You never know when you are going to pop over a hill or around a tree and come face-to-face with a very annoyed bull. Leave open gates open, and closed gates you found closed.
5) If you see livestock, livestock means people so you are close to finding help… or an axe murderer waiting for his next victim, depending upon if you are living in real life or in a pulp survivalist novel.
Unless you are hiking the wilderness back country
Unless you are hiking in the mountains, chances are good you will come across a road fairly quickly. I used the Merritt Reservoir area because it’s just about the most remote place I can think of; a location you can still walk 40-50 miles and not hit a single road… and a place where there are no natural landmarks that can be seen.
If you follow the above rules, honestly, you are not going to get seriously lost, but if you do, just remember water flows downhill towards where people live. Any savvy searchers will spend more time searching low places than heights too; as that’s where most lost people are found.
That will get you through.
I don’t have a lot of experience with this, but from my study of it, it helps to have some kind of bright signal panel or flagging tape. With this you can mark the spot (in this scenario, it would probably be the spot where you figured out you were lost), so at the very least you should be able to find your way back to that point if your attempts at getting un-lost fail.
The normal use for flagging is so you can mark a spot on your trail and go off for some side exploring. Then after the exploring is done, you come back to the mark and continue on your heading. Remove the flagging when you are done with it so you do not confuse other hikers.
Thanks for sharing many-many good ideas!
One idea implied, but not mentioned nor specified, is taking along a waterproof notebook and several “write in any direction” pens (and with ink that won’t freeze), or pencils to write notes to yourself (and to others who may be searching for you).
A compass navigation trainer connected with TRS (Threat Response Solutions) suggests creating a Master Navigation Log [form] prior to any trip that notes a variety of LEGS along your trip, which are planned changes in direction; and noting a name for each LEG STOP (OR LEG START POINT), along with both grid and magnetic azimuths, distance (calculated from map and ruler), paces, time starting at each Leg Start, and a “Catch yourself feature”, such as if you pass a certain feature you have gone too far. This type of navigation log is not a mere spontaneous “write anything you want” type of log; but instead identifies a lot of information for getting oneself back to the original starting point, should one injure an ankle on the trip that now changes arrival times (and when darkness approaches).
There are many ways to get lost (or at least not be sure where one is). Fog, as well as darkness, and if one has walked downhill for a distance may block vision of landmarks. A storm could cause one to depart their route and not remember at what point they went off-route. No matter where we are, we only see “one side of a tree” (not the other side). Areas we travel through can seem unfamiliar without useful tools (e.g., compass and map), but also a Log that keeps track of vital information. Seasons can also cloud memory. Things look different in Fall and Winter verses summer. A person may want to re-visit something found on one trip, that cannot be re-found on another trip without keeping notes on a detailed log. Historically this was the basis for many “lost mine” stories. People assumed they could get back, but without a detailed log “things looked different” (maybe from a fire or landslide) and what was once found could not be refound. By the way, the instructor was ex military.
Thanks for sharing many-many good ideas!
One idea implied, but not mentioned nor specified, is taking along a waterproof notebook and several “write in any direction” pens (and with ink that won’t freeze), or pencils to write notes to yourself (and to others who may be searching for you).
A compass navigation trainer connected with TRS (Threat Response Solutions) suggests creating a Master Navigation Log [form] prior to any trip that notes a variety of LEGS along your trip, which are planned changes in direction; and noting a name for each LEG STOP (OR LEG START POINT), along with both grid and magnetic azimuths, distance (calculated from map and ruler), paces, time starting at each Leg Start, and a “Catch yourself feature”, such as if you pass a certain feature you have gone too far. This type of navigation log is not a mere spontaneous “write anything you want” type of log; but instead identifies a lot of information for getting oneself back to the original starting point, should one injure an ankle on the trip that now changes arrival times (and when darkness approaches).
There are many ways to get lost (or at least not be sure where one is). Fog, as well as darkness, and if one has walked downhill for a distance may block vision of landmarks. A storm could cause one to depart their route and not remember at what point they went off-route. No matter where we are, we only see “one side of a tree” (not the other side). Areas we travel through can seem unfamiliar without useful tools (e.g., compass and map), but also a Log that keeps track of vital information. Seasons can also cloud memory. Things look different in Fall and Winter verses summer. A person may want to re-visit something found on one trip, that cannot be re-found on another trip without keeping notes on a detailed log. Historically this was the basis for many “lost mine” stories. People assumed they could get back, but without a detailed log “things looked different” (maybe from a fire or landslide) and what was once found could not be refound. By the way, the instructor was ex military.