View Full Version : Lost Hiker
pierre girard
25-08-2006, 09:19
Busy day tomorrow. Another lost hiker in the wilderness. 44 year old male from the big city, two days overdue. At the very least, he will be hungry, as he only had food enough to last through Tuesday. Hope he has more bushcraft skills than the average person in his situation. Lot of trails intersect in the area where he was hiking, and it is easy to get messed up if you can't read a map.
If he's not breathing, he will at least be easy to identify. Rose tattoo on arm, unknown tattoo on stomach, and a tattoo of an eyeball on each buttock (?).
Apologies if I sound a little jaded, but you get kind of tired of people with little or no experience taking off into the woods and getting lost. When we do find them (and they are alive) they are the biggest complainers too. It's not their fault. It must be someone else's fault. "Why aren't their signposts on the trails, etc.?"
Because it is wilderness! That is what wilderness means. No sign posts! You're lucky there are trails. Learn to read a map! Maybe some people shouldn't be allowed out of their house without lessons.
End rant.
Same in Scotland, nice sunny day lets go for a walk up this hill ,. Half way up weather closes in mist fog no visibilty, cold wind they are wear the normal jeans t-shirt trainers etc , they not worried the have mobile phone someone will come and get them , shame they dont know where they are!!!!!!!
Spikey DaPikey
25-08-2006, 09:30
Hope it goes well :o
British Red
25-08-2006, 10:09
Welll....buzzards gotta eat too
jdlenton
25-08-2006, 10:11
yup best regards hope it all works out
and Pierre you know that if it wern't for people like you when people like us really get in trouble and need you there would be no one there with the skills to find us and help when we really need it. :You_Rock_
Dougster
25-08-2006, 10:12
They say we are becoming a risk averse society and I agree. I think that the risk has been perceived to be removed because the assumption now is,someone, with technology, will always be there to save them. Let us know if you get a thank-you. It would be great to see an exception to the rule.
Saying that, I musn't tar everyone with the same brush. The guy could be a great outdoorsman with a sprained or broken ankle. Irrespective of the temperament of the guy, I hope the day ends well for you all.
Good luck, hope it all turns out ok.
But please don't rant before you've found him. If he does turn out to be an underprepared fool, then feel free to rant afterwards. But he could be Ray Mears' brother who unfortunately broke a leg. I'm sure most rescue people would rather be called out unnecessarily than not be called out when they could easily have helped. But if us mere mortals think that the rescuers hate being called out and assume we're all muppets then perhaps people won't call for help until it's too late.
Good luck with it, I hope he's ok :D
sxmolloy
25-08-2006, 13:16
Pierre, I would be interested if you could post an update as to what this hiker was like and how he became lost, injured, missing or whatever. How he handled having to be rescued and if he was grateful for your efforts.
If he was injured did he manage to make himself as comfortable as possible or did he not know what to do in a situation like this.
As mentioned an update would be good and much appreciated...ATB...Stu
pierre girard
25-08-2006, 20:11
Update:
Ray Mears brother, he was not. Knew that much before I posted.
Searchers all out of the woods. Bloodhound went right to the edge of the water and sat down. Not looking good. Time for the divers.
falling rain
25-08-2006, 20:30
Same in Scotland, nice sunny day lets go for a walk up this hill ,. Half way up weather closes in mist fog no visibilty, cold wind they are wear the normal jeans t-shirt trainers etc , they not worried the have mobile phone someone will come and get them , shame they dont know where they are!!!!!!!
Ah yes the good old mobile phone that some peoples lives seem to revolve around nowadays..................exce pt they fail and the battery drains in double quick time in the cold. What no signal? :eek: How can this be, I always get a signal in the city :confused:
sxmolloy
25-08-2006, 21:52
Update:
Ray Mears brother, he was not. Knew that much before I posted.
Searchers all out of the woods. Bloodhound went right to the edge of the water and sat down. Not looking good. Time for the divers.
oh dear, doesn't look good at all. thanks for the update pierre, i would be really grateful if you could let us know if the divers find anything. its things like this that make you glad your alive and well i find, but its the persons family i feel for.
once again thanks pierre.
pierre girard
26-08-2006, 01:16
Latest Wrinkle.
Girlfiend just called and said he might not come out until today (?). Who knows? Maybe he will walk out yet. Unsure if this is legit - or just wishful thinking.
Some of the rescue squad were in the woods until 1800. They are all out now. Don't know what is planned for tomorrow. This is a huge area to cover. Every once in a while we get one of these strange ones. This one has strange written all over it. Sometimes the people don't want to be found and will avoid the searchers. Really makes it tough.
Latest Wrinkle.
Girlfiend just called and said he might not come out until today (?). Who knows? Maybe he will walk out yet. Unsure if this is legit - or just wishful thinking.
Some of the rescue squad were in the woods until 1800. They are all out now. Don't know what is planned for tomorrow. This is a huge area to cover. Every once in a while we get one of these strange ones. This one has strange written all over it. Sometimes the people don't want to be found and will avoid the searchers. Really makes it tough.
I have been told, and or read somewhere, that sometimes the lost person (mostly it’s men that do this) will deliberately hurt himself, if he thinks he is about to be found, so it looks like he was unable to get himself “unlost” rather than just being lost
Must be a macho thing.
Sounds to me like it's just "natural selection" taking place, people like this probably shouldn't have children. Let him find his own way out, if he can't it is just Mr Darwin in action. :)
Geoff
crazydave
26-08-2006, 18:49
you should read some of the incident reports and complains from british mountain rescue teams - they get phone calls from people who want them to send a helicopter to pick them up because they running late, are tired, have nothing to eat, have a blister etc.....
and as to men and maps there's a quote from commander in chief - 'if moses had been a women then she'd have stopped for directions and they'd have been in israel within a week' :)
pierre girard
27-08-2006, 21:11
Well, there is news
Subject located today - 12 miles from any trail, in the center of a large black spruce swamp.
He hasn't eaten for six days, and has been drinking unfiltered water from a beaver pond. It has been determined that he was lost within two miles of starting out from the trailhead and has been lost almost since he set foot in the woods.
He'd picked out the spot where he wanted to die. For once, we didn't hear, "I wasn't lost."
Spacemonkey
27-08-2006, 21:13
and as to men and maps there's a quote from commander in chief - 'if moses had been a women then she'd have stopped for directions and they'd have been in israel within a week' :)
..only 'cos she couldn't read the flippin' map... ;) http://www.disturbingthepeace.co.uk/VB/images/smilies/outofhere.gif
That's good news Pierre. Hopefully he will make a full recovery. Well done to the rescue team.
Perhaps a satellite phone might be a good item to invest in for a bloke like that?
Bisamratte
27-08-2006, 21:23
Well, there is news
Subject located today - 12 miles from any trail, in the center of a large black spruce swamp.
He hasn't eaten for six days, and has been drinking unfiltered water from a beaver pond. It has been determined that he was lost within two miles of starting out from the trailhead and has been lost almost since he set foot in the woods.
He'd picked out the spot where he wanted to die. For once, we didn't hear, "I wasn't lost."
Im glad you have found him :)
I dont think he will be doing that again but at least hes honest- it takes a brave man to give up so much and choose a place to die. Poor guy, i feel for him but it just goes to show that if your truly lost, sit down and have a nice cup of tea and stay there! there is much more chance of being found. But truly its an experience that should never be experienced.
Well done to Pierre and the rescue team - the unsung heroes of outdoor travel! :)
pierre girard
28-08-2006, 00:06
Well done to Pierre and the rescue team - the unsung heroes of outdoor travel! :)
Rescue squad did the work. Bunch of young bucks who like twigs in their hair. I'm just relaying information.
Perhaps a satellite phone might be a good item to invest in for a bloke like that?
Or map reading lessons and a bushcraft course?
Well done to the rescue team.
Glad he was found, can't be nice to be lost in such a vast wilderness.
Hopefully he will learn from his mistakes and get the essential training before he ventures out again.
Well done to the Rescue Team.
pierre girard
28-08-2006, 17:14
Hate to say it - another one reported lost last night. Older gent, haven't got much on particulars yet. Kind of an ongoing thing.
Pierre, is this your work, or are you part of a volunteer mountain rescue organisation? Whoever it is you work with, they keep you busy!
Perhaps a satellite phone might be a good item to invest in for a bloke like that?
...or a GPS. Modern units are so cheap and reliable, I'm staggered why someone would contemplate going somewhere like that without one.
Ogri the trog
29-08-2006, 11:41
...or a GPS. Modern units are so cheap and reliable, I'm staggered why someone would contemplate going somewhere like that without one.
Martyn,
At the risk of upsetting a lot of people who have posted above - the reliance of technology to "get you out of trouble" mearly serves to encourage those who own such gadgets to take greater risks.
There are no batteries to go flat in a map or a compass and if you "forget" how to use it (map & compass) then you haven't learnt correctly in the first place. It is a skill that I believe should be tought thoroughly when young and practiced regularly; start small and build the experience before venturing to the wilder, more rugged spaces of the world.
Without doubt, things will on occasion, go wrong. That is the reason we feel humbled by the efforts of the volunteers of Mountain Rescue, SAR etc; but folk who call on such organisations for the flimsiest of reasons should be obliged to repay their debt for going unprepared.
Sorry, turned into a bit of a rant there. :o
Ogri the trog
I totally agree Ogri, map work is first before GPS, which is an aid to navigation. They are good, don't get me wrong, but batteries can go flat, it can be dropped and broken, sat on, kit dumped on it or just plain lost. You could lose your compass but still use a map, and if you know the general direction you entered the wilderness by, you could backtrack wih your compass if you lost your map.
I have a small piece of rigid plastic attatched to my compass which I write down bearings for each leg of a trip before I go off. I use it mainly whilst doing the military stuff, when I bushcraft I just like to wander!! It is a good idea though as you can check where you are going and where you have been. The plastic is opaque so that it can be held up to the moon at night and the light helps to read what you wrote on to it. Probably not needed in the bushcraft world, but it's a thought!!
Yes, but here we're talking about a choice between someone who doesn't know what he's doing vs someone who doesn't know what he's doing but has a GPS. I'd go with the latter any time.
Yes, we'd all love it for everyone to be experts with compasses. But they're not. Yes, they shouldn't really be going into the wilds without decent enough knowledge, but since they're doing it anyway, let them have a GPS with "home" waymarked to if it all goes to pot, then hopefully they'll be able to use the GPS to get out.
Yes, but here we're talking about a choice between someone who doesn't know what he's doing vs someone who doesn't know what he's doing but has a GPS. I'd go with the latter any time..
Absolutely. The simple truth of that is very, very hard to ignore.
I'm not suggesting replacing map & compass with a GPS, or relying on a GPS as a sole source of navigational equipment, but the fact is, if the chap mentioned in this thread had taken one with him, he almost certainly would not of got lost.
I agree, nothing replaces good mapreading skills, but misplaced confidence in ones own navigational abilities is far worse than taking a GPS along as a backup. If it gets lost or broken, fair enough. If the batteries bleed flat, fair enough. But if an experienced hiker gets lost and they dont have a GPS with them at all and their excuse is that they dont need one because they are a good map reader, ...I'd say "so how come you got lost?" ...and "..by the way, here's the bill for the S&R".
Pride comes before a fall ...or a ride in a helicopter. :)
Without doubt, things will on occasion, go wrong. That is the reason we feel humbled by the efforts of the volunteers of Mountain Rescue, SAR etc; but folk who call on such organisations for the flimsiest of reasons should be obliged to repay their debt for going unprepared.
My point exactly.
GPS are relatively cheap now, small, light and very reliable. Yes they can break or get lost, but so can compasses. Granted they run on batteries, but so do torches. I bet most people would throw a torch in their pack without a seconds hesitation.
If it makes people feel better, they could seal it up in a bag and mark it "open only when hopelessly lost", but going someplace with the potential to get hoplessley lost without one, is staggeringly negligent IMO.
pierre girard
30-08-2006, 07:18
I totally agree Ogri, map work is first before GPS, which is an aid to navigation. They are good, don't get me wrong, but batteries can go flat, it can be dropped and broken, sat on, kit dumped on it or just plain lost. You could lose your compass but still use a map, and if you know the general direction you entered the wilderness by, you could backtrack wih your compass if you lost your map.
I have a small piece of rigid plastic attatched to my compass which I write down bearings for each leg of a trip before I go off. I use it mainly whilst doing the military stuff, when I bushcraft I just like to wander!! It is a good idea though as you can check where you are going and where you have been. The plastic is opaque so that it can be held up to the moon at night and the light helps to read what you wrote on to it. Probably not needed in the bushcraft world, but it's a thought!!
I agree as well. You don't even need a compass in this area (though I'd advise it). Simply being able to read a map would suffice. It has been my experieince that most people are woefully ignorant of map reading skills and the ability to position themselves, or orient themselves relative to their position on a map.
Heck, the trail that Mr Eyeball Butt was on - you could navigate with directions written on a napkin, "Take the first left fork, the second left fork, then keep right on the next three forks, etc, etc." How he ever ended up so far off a fairly well used trail - I don't know, but people do it all the time.