Lost in the wilderness?

[Teepee]

Last year, I was walking on Kinder Scout plataeu when a well spoken couple approached me asking for directions;

The guy asked me where he was and pointed to a place 15 miles away on the map that he thought was his location. He then asked me;

"Is north that way?" he said, pointing at the midday sun.

I asked him where he had come from (Not a tongue in cheek question either) and they said they weren't sure.

I learnt on that day, its possible to get lost in the busiest parts of blighty if you have the 'right skills'.

 

[Shotgun]

A working definition for a "National Forest" in the US is an area set aside to GROW trees; maybe an area with mature trees ready to harvest but not necessarily. Those "shrubs" will grow.

Maybe. Not sure what trees they were but didn't look like a freshly planted area. Looked more like a desert to me with low shrubs.

 

[EdS]

not unknow for people to get lost underground in the Dales, Peaks and Mendips

 

[santaman2000]

not unknow for people to get lost underground in the Dales, Peaks and Mendips

Caves or old mine tailings?

 

[silentpaddler]

Well I guess there can be many factors involved in a survival situation, as folks have pointed out on this thread.
Deer season is just around the corner, and personally I'm toying with the idea of buying a GPS as a supplement to the map and compass. The problem here is our
hellish topography: rugged Canadian Shield covered in dense bush and water. It makes navigation very difficult when you
can neither see nor walk in a straight line for any distance, always skirting lakes and ponds and marshes. Following ridges or valleys isn't an option
either because they run in every which direction and always deliver you to exactly where you think you're not.
I guess the smart answer is to always carry lighter, compass, knife, etc., and then do everything possible not to need them...

 

[mousey]

I learnt on that day, its possible to get lost in the busiest parts of blighty if you have the 'right skills'.

I've been lost in London and completely un-able to find my way, but thats a different story...

 

[Shewie]

I've been lost in London and completely un-able to find my way, but thats a different story...

London is a scary place. give me the Yukon complete with Grizzlies any day

 

[mousey]

London is a scary place. give me the Yukon complete with Grizzlies any day

London's not scary - it's the people.

belive me, I grew up near there and I'M scary enough...

 

[Thenihilist]

The country i live in Britain is surrounded on all sides by the largest wilderness area on the planet.

Britain is only 140 miles wide at it's widest point iirc

 

[Thenihilist]

We are a tiny island.

We can't compare ourselves to the forests of canada etc though we did rape our forest our coast and the sea surrounding us.

 

[Retired Member southey]

350 at it widest and 27 at is tinnest(east to west for both)

 

[Thenihilist]

350 at it widest and 27 at is tinnest(east to west for both)

Is that including NI?

Another thing we tend to forget is the winter conditions are horrendous, it can get to minus 10 at night then it can get above freezing in the day and melt everything again or even rain add to that anywhere near the coast or on the hills can be horrendously windy.

If it stays below freezing all winter you don't get the huge problems we do, look at the state of our roads after winter for example.

Combine all that with people not taking into account how fast the weather changes you get problems, very few people in Britain are appropriately clothed for winter.

So aye it can be very dangerous.

 

[Martti]

Most of the persons requiring a SAR operation involving a helicopter in the woods in Finland are either ignorent urban dwellers who are afraid of imaginary bears (i.e. lynxes), boy scouts who accidently set of fires in the national parks or elderly people with mental problems. This is my understanding after reading Helsingin Sanomat newspaper for several years.

As I said on the other thread on Estonia, the most remote place in Finland in terms of the distance to the nearest road, is only 30 kilometers away due of the extensive logging operations.

 

[Mastino]

London is a scary place. give me the Yukon complete with Grizzlies any day

One final paragraph of advice: [...] It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the ********.

~ Edward Abbey

 

[Baggy]

I wandered up Cadair Idris one day and half way up the cloud came down and navigation was fun.

When I reached the summit shelter there were two nuns (in full nun regalia) sitting eating their lunch, they were waiting for someone to show them the way down. They had no navigation or safety kit just a carrier bag for their lunch.

When I eventually dropped them off in Dolgellau they gave me a fiver for beer because "that's what men like"

They were entertaining company and they were not lost just waiting... apparently

 

[Hoodoo]

When I eventually dropped them off in Dolgellau they gave me a fiver for beer because "that's what men like"

Too funny.

 

[oldtimer]

As several people have pointed out above, we need skills here in the UK too. Every winter has its crop of stories of the unprepared on the roads as well as the wilds. I doubt that I am alone in having needed skills when in other countries where conditions may be unfamiliar. For example, I spend a lot of time in the Pyrenees where it is possible to be out of reach of other people for days over 1000 metres. I have had to find water in 37degree heat, have had to cope with getting benighted in freezing fog and dealt with accidents to others more than once. Knowing I can do this, having practised skills in our very variable climate and terrain in the UK lets me enjoy the wild places in confidence that I can cope with the less familiar.

 

[bronskimac]

It is baffling how people can be so ignorant of the dangers in our countryside. There are so many news stories of folk with little or no kit getting into trouble. There are also so many "rescue" type programs on TV too. Plus the odd program by Ray something or other... I know most of them get "caught out" but what really bothers me is the Mountain Rescue, Air Ambulance and police folk that have to put their own lives at risk to rescue the idiots.

Scotland has some reletivly sizable areas of wildernes where it would be fairly easy to get lost.

No matter what your doing, don't forget the tea making kit!

 

[mbiraman]

I think if a person travels or camps in the woods and their going to be a few miles from people then having skills is good things to have. If you have an accident then you can take care of yourself while you make the next decision. Shelter ,food etc. I do allot of hiking , paddling etc alone in BC. Unless your in a national park your never very far from a logging road but you might be a long way from people in a relatively untraveled area. In bad weather,winter, it doesn't take but a few miles to be in potential trouble.

bill

 

[mousey]

.

No matter what your doing, don't forget the tea making kit!

There was a great thread I read on here a while ago about always having and 'emergency' brew kit with you, so if you got lost you'd stop and make a cup of tea. Slowing you down, stopping you tearing of in a potentially dangerous direction, giving you something to focus on [rather than being lost], giving you some warmth and something hot to drink - and if/when somebody finds you, your not lost you've just sat down to have a brew!

It's going to drive me nuts if I can't find that thread again...