Whether you are in a car/truck, on foot or on a bike, at some point you are going to get lost.  The question then becomes, what is your plan to find your way back, or if you cannot find your way back, how would you survive one or more nights out in the wild or be rescued?

No doubt you have seen some of the TV shows where someone went out for a 2 hour hike, or a scenic drive in a National Forest but then made a mistake and got stuck or lost. It can happen quite easily, especially when trails are not marked well, or if you venture into an unfamiliar area and trail/road conditions change or bad weather moves in.

The first three defenses against getting lost in the wilderness and dying out there are relatively simple:

1. Tell at least two people where you are going (your travel plan), what trails you will take where you are entering and where you are exiting and what date and time you plan to return. Let them know that if you’re not back by the designated time/date that they should contact authorities for a search and rescue.
2. Have navigational aids and backup systems
3. Have communication aids and backup systems

Lastly, whenever possible you should avoid going alone, because if you become lost or injured alone, the stakes are much higher.

So how and why do people become lost in the wilderness?

• Going off trail. Leaving a well-traveled, marked trail into the woods is a surefire way to lose the trail.  Do not attempt shortcuts or bushwhacking unless you’re experienced in orienteering and navigation.
• Making a wrong turn or missing a junction
• Group splits up, without communication from the group
• Trail is covered due to leaf fall, or snow or lack of use.
• Starting too late in the day, so that it gets dark before the hike (or ride) is over

If you leave an established trail for a photograph, or because you have to pee, walk perpendicular to the trail and when you stop, take one of your trekking poles and point the tip of the pole back towards the trail.  Remember that if you go 50 feet in the wrong direction, you can easily get disoriented. If you have your compass handy, take a bearing so you know which direction you need to walk to return to the trail.

Navigational aids- you should not be without a compass, they are relatively light and inexpensive. Even without any maps at least a compass would allow you to walk in a set direction, without traveling in circle or losing your bearing. Maybe you are in a huge wilderness area, but you know that the area is bounded by a road on it’s Western or Southern edge. At least then you would know which way to go to reach a road or a town.

Ideally you should have a compass and a detailed topographic map, showing the trails in the area you plan to hike. Even if you are using a GPS-phone app or GPS device, you should still carry a paper map as a backup, because your phone or GPS device can die, GPS relies on Satellites and may not work well in densely wooded areas or in bad weather.

Communication aids: We are all used to relying on our cell phones as a security blanket should we get into trouble (while we are out in the car, cycling or hiking). However cell phones have two drawbacks: their batteries don’t last long and there is rarely a signal or service in remote backcountry areas.   If you are relying on a phone for navigation, take a USB battery backup.  If you frequently hike or ride solo in remote areas, you might want to consider a satellite phone which will work nearly anywhere, or an emergency beacon which will send a distress signal with your GPS coordinates.

If you are hiking or mountain biking with a group, you may want to consider handheld FRS two-way radios. These devices are relatively inexpensive, have a range of several miles (depending on terrain) and can help you avoid confusion and mishaps.  For example when you have a group of 4 riders, who spread out over the course of a ride and then one accidentally missed the turn off and goes the wrong direction. Without a radio you have no idea if he’s injured, has a flat tire or went the wrong way. Now one of the group will need to go back and search for him while the other two wait. You could end up with two people lost. With a radio, he can call for help.  The two way radios are useful for backcountry skiing in a group as well, when you split up in the glades, one person could easily get injured or veer off course.

Another big security blanket is your vehicle. Your car or truck can carry you great distances quickly, has heat and air conditioning and can provide shelter. It can also carry a large amount of supplies.  However the ability to travel 50 miles into the backcountry or desert in an SUV or other 4WD vehicle can also be your undoing. 50 miles is a distance you can cover with ease in an SUV, but would take days on foot. If you drive even 20 miles into the wilderness, it’s likely there will be no cell service if you get stuck or stranded. Do you have the means to hike out? If not, do you have the means to survive for several days (I.e. food and water)?

Despite the belief that their AWD or 4WD SUV can “go anywhere” as shown by TV ads, these vehicles are not infallible and can easily get stuck in sand, snow or a ditch. A serious off roader would have a winch and one or more spare wheels.  It is safer to travel with 2 vehicles, then if one becomes stuck your group could exit in the other and then return back later.  If you’re traveling solo, a portable winch or “comealong” is good to have, along with some tow straps.

Road conditions can change quickly. I’ve seen roads go from paved to graded dirt, to a rocky jeep road, where I reached the point that I considered my Subaru would probably get stuck. Maybe it was dry when you drove in, but now it’s rained and there is mud or 2 feet of water to cross.  In the desert you can easily get stuck in deep sand.  It doesn’t have to be winter time to get stuck in snow. At higher elevation, snow storms can blow in during October or May and make roads impassible.

If you are traveling into a remote area by car or SUV, you should make sure you have a cell phone charger. Even if there is no signal where you’re stuck, it might be possible to get a signal if you hike up a nearby hill or peak.  But because phones are unreliable in the backcountry you should consider a high powered 2-way radio.  Years ago so many people used CB radios, you might actually be able call for help on a CB. But usage has dropped and the only ones using CBs now are interstate truckers. However a GMRS radio (requires a license) can transmit up to 60 miles to a base station.  You can also check with a ranger station in the area you’re headed to ask if any radio communications are monitored.

Have you ever tried hiking 5 miles in deep snow? If your’e traveling into a remote area in winter and might have to walk out, you should know how to fabricate a gaitor or how to make a snowshoe.

Here’s a few other things you should keep in your car or truck:

• Any Garmin GPS- these will work regardless of cell service, and would be useful to show you what is nearby or how to get out either by vehicle or on foot. Make sure to keep it charged or have the car charger with it.
• Extra water (in winter you will need a heat source to melt water if it freezes)
• Extra food- consider keeping 2 jars of peanut butter, which is a high energy food, in the trunk.
• A blanket or sleeping bag, winter clothing if you had to hike out.
• A portable headlamp
• Matches and newspaper to start a fire
• In summer, a water purifier, purification tablets or both
• Do you have an extra/old backpack? Could be useful if you’re stranded and have to hike out.
• Does your car or truck have a spare tire? Do you have the jack and tools to change it?

Case studies: here are the few times that I got lost or saw others get lost:

Lost in Yosemite– In the 1990s, My wife and I were on a 5-day pack trip in October in Yosemite National Park, hiking down to Yosemite Valley from Tuolome Meadows. On the second night out it snowed about 3-4 inches where we were camped.  Due to the snow on the ground we quickly lost the trail we were taking and ended up in the middle of the woods. However, I had a topo map and knew the general area we were in. The map showed a nearby creek bed, which I knew if we followed would go to lower elevation and eventually would cross the trail. We followed the route of the streambed to lower elevation and eventually reconnected to the trail, which at that point was not covered in snow.  She was nervous that we were lost, but I reassured her that we had extra food. If the snowfall amount had been higher though, it could have been much worse. We were using a 3-season tent, we did not have gaitors or snowshoes.  If we’d had to contend with deeper snow we could have had a much harder time.

Hikers lost on San Jacinto–  a large group from work went to Mount San Jacinto in the summer and camped somewhere near saddle junction. A small group decided to hike to Taquitz Peak to watch the sunset while the rest of us ate dinner. Unfortunately that was a mistake because once they decided to come down it was pitch black and they lost the trail. No one had cell phones back then, one of the group had a flashlight.  They were very lucky to find their way back to our camp, they showed up after 9:30 pm. It’s an area with steep technical terrain, very unsafe to hike at night. Temperatures at night in can go into the high 30s, they were lucky they didn’t have to spend the night outside.

Lost in the Wonderland of the Rocks– be very careful if you hike/climb this area in Joshua Tree.  While there are what look like trails, they are really just areas of sand where nothing is growing between the rock formations. It is a huge maze of boulder formations and once you go in, everything looks the same .

Again here is where a compass can help, if you pay attention to what direction you need to travel to reach the parking lot. A GPS with tracking or iphone using a GPS app like Strava or similar would show you your route. You can also mark the location of your car with your phone’s GPS- that would not require a cell signal to find your car. If you don’t have a phone then you could climb up to the top of a high area and hopefully see the road or other hikers in the area.

Our friend drowned in a frozen lake in Seqouia? On a multi-day trip in Seqouia, we were hiking out and our friend Matthias went ahead as he said he wanted to check out one of the lakes on the route back to our car. He said that he would stop there and try to catch some trout, then we could regroup and hike back together. However when we got to the lake, there was no sign of Matthias.  Because the lake was frozen over, but there was thin ice on the sides, we feared that he had fallen through the ice. We walked all around the lake screaming his name with no response.  Unable to find him we continued hiking, only to discover he was waiting down the trail. He had stopped at the lake but he forgot that he was supposed to wait for us at the lake. Oops.

Do you have emergency supplies?

Even when I am just day hiking, I always carry water and food. In summer I carry my water filter, which is relatively light. Here is what you should have in your pack:

• Compass and paper map
• Pocket knife (swiss army or leatherman tool is good)
• First aid kit
• Insect repellant (in summer)
• heat packs (in winter)
• extra layer and rain jacket
• Food (cliff bars, trail mix etc)
• water & purification tablets
• emergency shelter (space blanket)
• matches, lighter, firestarter
• 10+ feet of cord/rope
• headlamp

As mentioned earlier, if you plan a solo trek into remote backcountry areas you should consider an emergency beacon system or satellite phone.  Your only other option for rescue is search and rescue when you don’t return at the specified time.