When was the last time you got lost ?

[mowerman]

Went out for a quick walk across some farmland with my mate at about 11:00am, parked the landy in the farm yard and set off.
I am a part time mole catcher and we were going to check my traps.
All traps checked emptied and reset and we started walking back and came across a public right of way.
With time on our hands we followed the path across a few fields, through some woodland, across some more fields, through a lot of woodland with criss crossing paths and then across some more fields, chatting and roughly following, so we thought, a circular kind of route.
It is now 2pm it is foggy and the temperature is around 0°c we are around 400 metres above sea level and it is a bit breezy.
We cross another field and the path seemingly ends. No more signs, no visual clues, no map. ( Full bug out bag including map, compass, water, firelighting box, tarp etc in my landy back at the farm ) no phone signal, no roads or buildings.
The first time I have been properly lost since I was a kid.

It was exciting, scary, cold and nerve wracking all at the same time.

Anyway, we gathered our thoughts, headed down hill sticking close to the edge of fields and soon found our way to a road. Got some phone signal and realised we were over 5 miles from our starting point !
Got our bearings and headed back, cold, hungry and a bit embarrassed but not really any worse for wear.

Anyway, what I'm saying is, when was the last time if ever that you really got lost and how did it make you feel ?

 

[wicca]

Interesting experience.. At the beginning of January I spent some time in the Forest of Dean and had an occasion when I wasn't so much lost as disorientated, I think is the best way to describe it.
In thick wooded country with landmarks obscured by trees I was relying on contours and compass to make towards a map marked forest track. Came out of the trees onto a track and turned West as shown on the map....Track shown as leading West suddenly turned South!!!
Sat and had a think and a long squint at the OS map and it gradually dawned on me, this was a new track for forestry work.
Not lost but momentarily...." Err where am I exactly?" I should have known better and been more aware of distance travelled but it's never easy in thickly wooded country moving up and down hill.
Been brushing off the cobwebs with my pace (Ranger) beads since and happy to say a few easy trial walks have been pretty accurate as far as pacing/distance have shown.

Not the same cold experience as you and anyway I had kit for a night out on me, but those first few minutes of was a nice gentle wake up for me..

 

[woodsorrel]

I was "disoriented" for about an hour and a half this year in the Sierras, near Donner Pass. What made it spooky is that I attended the 24th Anniversary Donner Party Hike the previous day. Talk about bad imagery!

My girlfriend and I set out for a lake I visited 9 years prior. I grew complacent. I relied too much on memory to know where to turn off the main trail to find the lake. When the trail started to look unfamiliar, I pressed on anyway.

To make a long story short, I added two miles to our hike in vertical terrain at an elevation of about 7,200 feet (2,195 meters). I made several mistakes but nothing serious. Here's a link to the postmortem along with pictures and maps that show my folly (http://www.natureoutside.com/mistake-flora-lake-wilderness-navigation/).

One of those learning experiences that did not cost too much.

- Woodsorrel

 

[wicca]

Excellent read Woodsorrel... a helpful powerline and once again STOP to the rescue

 

[Robson Valley]

First time was funny. 6-12" snow in the forest. Hunting as usual. Walked and walked
and walked. Cut across another hunter's tracks. Really annoyed that I wasn't alone.
Turned out it was me. I'd walked in a circle more than a mile across in the forest.

Could have wiggled my finger over a map and said: "deer hunting somewhere in here."
Sudden mountain snowstorm. Forest so very little wind. Visibility maybe 75 yards.
The N/S logging road was east of my general location. Took 2 steps. Which way is east?
I can still remember suddenly breaking into a real sweat.

Stood out in the open facing "east" with all my kit sheltered under a spruce tree.
Compass showed I was facing north, never would have come to the road.
When? 1984. Pre-GPS which still does not work well in steep mountain valleys.

 

[woodsorrel]

Thanks, wicca! STOP to the rescue. It's so much easier to say than to do in the heat of the moment.

Robson Valley, those are two great stories!

- Woodsorrel

 

[Robson Valley]

I think that it's really important to buy a very good compass and learn to read it against the map.
My old (1964) Recta Prospector bubbled away. Repacement is the Brunton Eclipse (#8099) which is discontinued, I see.
However, the Suunto MC-2G Navigator looks good, global needle, too.

 

[Forrest Stump]

Last Friday, actually. I was taking a new female friend to an old woods (which I felt I knew well enough having been there several times over many years). We were behind schedule and looking for fallen or felled spalted wood for me, and intended to take a few photos to go and paint at her house, of whatever we could find.

Arriving late, we were made later when I forgot my pack in the car, and after doubling back to get it, we set off just as the sun was setting. I confidently assured her that the woods were too small to get lost in, and that if she followed me we would certainly not get lost. A few hundred yards into the woods after one photo shoot of the setting sun, darkness was already falling fast. I decided to turn right and double back along a path which was parallel with the car park, and turn right again to head back to it, but after an hour of walking (now long after dark) it was clear that we were, well. Whats the word. Lost lol.

Had a good laugh, great walk, all very enjoyable... I maintain that we were not really lost, or we would still be there

 

[oldtimer]

"I've never been lost. But sometimes I've been mighty confused!" DANIEL BOONE

 

[Bishop]

Forestry roads are the most common bane of my navigation but one incident before cheap GPS units and Google Earth that really got the collywobbles going was here..
We had a map and compass, though the weather was bad with visibility under 100 meters it was a simple navigation exercise on paper. Head NNW from the cairn till you reach the second cairn at the edge of the forest, hang a left and wander downhill towards the reservoir. But watch what happens when you zoom in and switch from 50k to 25k OS mapping. Guess what map we had!

 

[wicca]

Whoops! A different world...

 

[barbourdurham]

Ha ha! Not that I admitted it at the time but.......

Me and my girlfriend (now wife of 11 yrs) rented a log cabin on the west coast of Wales for two weeks, with the aim of long mountain walks, a few nights wild camping, river and sea fishing, fires on the beach.....

Day one was spent enjoying the log fire in the cabin, pouring over maps and drinking tea. We decided that the next day would involve a nice gentle break in walk around a large forest. Early morning broke and after a hearty breakfast we drove to a visitors car park deep in the forest. We had talked about the route and planned well, armed with a 1.50000 map and a compass. In the car park there was a stand with free guide maps detailing routes through the forest. A sip of tea later and we made our first mistake. The guide map looked good enough so we left the OS map in the car.....

Picking a nice 15km route, we orientated the guide map to the car park and spied a well trodden trail exactly where we thought it would be so off we went. We stuffed the guide map in a pocket and hand in hand we made mistake number two. We didn't study the guide enough, so the route wasn't clear in our heads. If it had of been, we would of quickly realised that our 'trail' was heading NNW and not N....

A few K's later and we were warming into it. We sat on our day packs and had a quick drink. I pulled out the guide map and gave it a glance. At the time we were heading uphill following the same trail. But we were coming to the edge of the forest and it looked to be heading above the tree line. The ground didn't match the guide map. Mmmm..... we discussed. Obviously, we weren't where we thought we should be. But what to do? Que mistake number (how many is it now......) We decided to carry on. The map wasn't to scale, something we had only just realised, so maybe we were further on than we thought. The map kinda matched, and if we're right, we would soon come to a building of sorts, maybe it's a bothy.......

We traipsed on. With every step I just knew we were going wrong. My girlfriend later admitted that she doubted our route as well, but neither of us would admit it at the time!

Just within the hour, our 'bothy' came into view. Except it was a full on small holding. Complete with sheep, a cow and a barking dog! Bugger. Now it was confirmed. We were definitely off course. We sat in the lea of a stone wall. cheese and crackers and a handful of dried meat were chewed in silence. I drank my tea slowly. I fully agree that the key to solving this type of problem is not to dwell on what has happened, but to come to a solution based on the facts and deal with the situation. Out came our guide map again. I pulled out my compass for the first time that day. We had been walking for nearly three hours. We had only planned to be out about two hours. But we were enjoying ourselves..... I looked at the terrain around me, consulted the guide map and used my compass to orientate us. Within a short time I had worked out where we were. I was certain. 100%. And it was good news and bad news.....

We had veered NNW, contouring up the mountain for nearly three hours. We had left the forest about 2.5hrs ago. We were at a small holding. I pointed out our position on the guide map to my girlfriend. We were 8km west of where we should of been. A good way up a mountain and if we got back on track and followed the correct route back to the car, we had a good 13km to go. Oh, and the quickest route back to the marked 'forest walk' route on the guide map was straight down the mountain side, cross a river (depth unknown) straight up the other side of the valley (very very steep, forested) to a spot where there should be a big blue marker post.

With a haughty laugh and a kiss, my girlfriend shoved her flask back in her pack and said we may as well get on with it! (It was at this point that I honestly thought 'this one's a keeper'). I filled my mouth with chocolate, shouldered my pack and off we went down the mountain. I had picked a spot across the valley and took a bearing on my compass, which I referred to frequently. After some time we got to the bottom of the mountain side and reached the river. It was wide, fast flowing but only knee deep with a stoney bed. We sat down and discussed. Mmm, time for more tea. We were discussing a piggy back ride for her when we both looked up and spied a foot bridge across the river. I consulted the map. The bridge wasn't marked. But not to look a gift horse in the mouth we giggled and skipped across.

Now began one hell of a hard climb up the other side. It was so steep in most parts that we could stand up, point our arms forward and touch the slope. Throw thickly wooded unmanaged forestry into the mix and you could imagine how sweaty we got by the time we eventually reached a forest trail. With a deep breath I walked up the track about 100m and I came across our welcome blue marker post! Hurrah! We high fived. We drank tea. We followed the trail back downhill, passing wonderful water falls, old stone water mills, saw buzzards and deer. It was a brilliant end to an unplanned, exhausting 'break in' walk.

We married two years later. We still go out on long walks.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

 

[mowerman]

Brilliant !

 

[Trig]

My very first time out/wildcamping i went to Isle of Arran for one night.

Mistakes were made. Big one being a map but no compass. I was going into the hills, but not any summits, and i figured id able to navigate by using sight and map only. Plus, its an island. How lost can you get?
First day was fine, made it to where i wanted to camp, didnt really need the map as i knew roughly where i was going by using the hills.

The problem started when i awoke the next day, and i couldnt see very far at all around me for fog/mist. I sat it out for a while, hoping it would lift, but no luck and i had a ferry to catch.
I figured it should be easy enough to retrace my route from the previous day, as instead of keeping the high ground to my right, it would be on my left untill i hit a fenceline, and then follow that downhill.

I set off, and was pretty sure i recognised yesterdays terrain, despite one boulder and bog looking much the same as the next. After a while i was pretty sure i should of came to the fenceline, but no sight of it, or anything else.Soon after that, the ground seemed to be alot flatter than it should be, no mountain slope to my left, and i was coming across larger bogs that i didnt recognise (But became too closely acquainted with for my liking...)

I eventually gave up and decided to just follow a stream downhill hoping to get out of the mist. I eventually did,located where i was on the map from what i could see, and i was quite a distance away from where i should be. Rather than ascend back into the fog for another attempt, i decided to just head down to the road i could see in the distance, and then walk the road back to the ferry.

I missed my intended ferry due to having several miles longer of a road walk to do, but i made the next one a few hours later.

So yes, you can navigate by sight and map. If you can see.
And yes, you can get lost on an island.
And i tend to veer right when walking.

Lessons learned

 

[boatman]

On my own I have never been lost but was once, with incredible embarassment, when I took a group from work for a nice walk in Savernake Forest before we had a picnic in the parking area. The owners of the forest were trying out the forest keeping of cattle.Cattle are supposedly really creatures of the forest rather than pasture so theoretically should do better in the woods.

To enable this experiment new barbed wire enclosures had been created. Sharp, taut fencing that did not encourage climbing or struggling under. These had been put across normally used routes. The Public right of way that runs through the area had been closed off by the wire with no style or notice and that was the one i was going to use as the direct route back.

The outward journey was fine and we visited the ancient oaks that were part of the reason for the walk but the circular return was a nightmare as the new wire kept pushing us off line and I admit I became disoriented. Finally, I gave up and we trekked back to the main road and walked along it to the parking area and the picnic and a very cross wife who had been waiting hours for us.

 

[wicca]

Loss of visibility through fog, mist, driving snow has to be the worst circumstance to find yourself in when in an unfamiliar place I would think, especially if it closes in just before you positively identify a landmark you were relying on...Was that the rock outcrop shown on the map..or not..looked like it...not sure...can't see it now...Lost!...

 

[Trig]

Loss of visibility through fog, mist, driving snow has to be the worst circumstance to find yourself in when in an unfamiliar place I would think, especially if it closes in just before you positively identify a landmark you were relying on...Was that the rock outcrop shown on the map..or not..looked like it...not sure...can't see it now...Lost!...

Probably my biggest navigational fear is getting caught in a complete whiteout of snow/fog on a summit. I saw a picture before of someone in the snow and fog, and it looked like they were floating. Everything was the same colour, with nothing to distinguish between snow and sky. The only thing to see was the fact their feet were hidden in the snow,other than that they could of been levitating.

Being a picture probably exaggerated the effect a bit, but was pretty scary looking.

 

[Tengu]

Um, just last month, when I was at Southampton Uni for the Conference.

Why do I blindly follow my tutor, a man who always chooses the interesting route over the sensible one?

Not a good thing at 2330 after a hard day and a big meal.

 

[Polecatsteve]

I don't know about lost...I'd never admit that in front of my wife. But going up a Munro once I decided to follow a path I was SURE was right. Ended up adding 3 miles to the trek by the time I realised what id done. All because of low fog, to wet and cold to stop to read a map (bad clothing on my part) and my wife saying "Are you sure it's this way"

After returning home in a warm cabin I checked the map and admitted miscalculating the route....but lost!?

 

[Gcckoka]

about 3-4 months ago , I was woodcock hunting , I knew the path like my five finger and it was really funny thinking about how could I get lost here ? well after ended hunting it got night and pretty dark right after I finished hunting , so me and Max went back , I got a little lost but after good orientation I came to a place were the path was going , the path that I hiked almost everyday , in that area I knew every tree and every marks (I always pay attention to details , I dont walk like a stick ) so I went downhill continued walking and noticed a little change of place (i did notice a few things were different while looking but I didnt took it in mind) I was very tired , very cold , very wet and very hungry and wanted to get home fast , so I continued walking downhill and boom I cam to a place where two small "rivers" or how ever a small water source is called coming together , now I got a little worried because I didnt knew this place , so the road back up was so steep , so wet and muddy that it was almost imposible to go up , so I continued walking and boom in 10 minutes I look on my sides and there are two vertical hills and Im walking in the middle of them with the whole gap about 1.5m wide and thats when I realized that there was no right turn (which was way back home ) I thought and remembered that there was no right turn all the way since I was in the known area and thats when a panicked for abour 2-3 minutes but I remembered to not panic and just think , so I called Max cuddled him and thought that one think that I know 100% is that all of this small waters come to one and thats where my point is where I got of the road in the woods , so I kept going and after an hour of walking in water I came to that place , boy I was happy ! Now a few key lessons and tips learned , doesnt matter how good you know the woods at night everything changes and its a matter of one step to go in a wrong way and get lost. Being alone would be way worse , Max really helped me I knew that he would cover me if something and he gave me confidence , shotgun really really helps , I had it therefor I was sure if I meet predators Ill killed them (heck I even wanted that ) and always have a flashlight or headlamp
Thanks for reading my broken English