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Geocacher Lost in the Woods


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From the Yakima Herald:

 

Mistakes add up in woods

 

The backcountry -- particularly mountainous areas like the Cascades and their foothills -- can be soul-cleansing, invigorating, refreshing, awe-inspiring and even magical.

 

And, lest we forget, dangerously disorienting and downright life-threatening.

 

But that's the problem. We do forget. Too often, we take for granted that getting lost happens to other people, so we don't follow the basic rules of backcountry travel. Even when we know better.

 

Last week, two Yakima outdoorswomen who know better -- one a geocaching enthusiast, the other a longtime hiker -- went into the rugged hills above the Tieton River Canyon south and west of the Oak Creek Wildlife Area.

 

They got lost.

 

On what was to be an easy, in-and-out Fourth of July hike and picnic, they spent three nights in the backcountry, nights that became increasingly harrowing as their water supply dwindled.

 

They triggered a search-and-rescue operation involving dozens of dedicated volunteers who gave up days off and vacation days covering 4,000 miles and exhausting more than 400 man-hours -- time and effort that needn't have been spent, had those basic rules been followed.

 

I'm not trying to slam or embarrass those two women. Martha Fleming and Becky Sirrs certainly aren't the first people who have taken their backcountry navigational skills for granted. But their tale is a cautionary one. We can all learn from their mistakes -- and they truly hope we do.

 

MISTAKE NO. 1: Neither woman let anybody know where she were going, with whom and in what vehicle she was traveling, and when she should return. Nobody knew they were missing until Sirrs didn't show up for work on Thursday, by which point the pair had already spent a night outdoors. Searchers then spent a day and a half looking for the wrong vehicle -- Sirrs' -- until they found it at Fleming's house.

 

"You can give so much information in a short little note," Sirrs said. "And (the rescuers) had absolutely no clues to go on."

 

"If you look at the search time frame, we spent 95 percent of the search time looking for a vehicle and five percent of the time searching for them," said search-and-rescue volunteer Wayne Frudd. "Once we found the vehicle, it only took about three hours to find them."

 

The same thing had happened on another search-and-rescue operation just three weeks earlier, in which family members told searchers the lost hiker typically used trails around White Pass. So searchers wasted long hours and miles searching that area, when the hiker was actually 30 miles northeast, near Fifes Ridge.

 

MISTAKE NO. 2: The two women thought they would only be out for a couple of hours, and so they didn't prepare for the unexpected. No maps, no GPS, no compass, no cell phone.

 

"We did the wrong thing," admitted Fleming, an elementary school teacher. "Even if you leave for a two-hour hike, you stlll need the 10 essentials."

 

Specifically what the "10 essentials" consist of differs from one expert to the next, but here's a reliable list:

 

1) Map; 2) compass; 3) water and a way to purify it, whether by filter or purification tablets; 4) extra food; 5) first-aid kit; 6) extra clothes for changes in weather (or an unplanned night or two in the boonies); 7) whatever you need to start a fire, both to signal rescuers and to prevent hypothermia; 8) a multi-purpose tool like, yes, that old Swiss army knife; 9) a flashlight and extra batteries, regardless of how silly that may seem for a mid-day hike; and 10) a way to signal others to your location (or help yourself retrace your steps), such as a whistle or brightly-colored streamers.

 

Sunscreen, sunglasses and bug repellent are obvious enough that they shouldn't have to be on the list; you should have them anyway. You should also have a cell phone. Even if your carrier has no coverage where you're hiking, another carrier might -- or might if you can hike up to the nearest bluff -- and dialing 9-1-1 will ping the closest tower and get you some help.

 

A word to the wise, though -- unless you specifically need to be available to outside calls, keep your cell phone turned off. You want there to be some battery life should a 9-1-1 call become imperative.

 

MISTAKE NO. 3: The two hikers didn't make sure they'd recognize the way back by routinely turning back and eyeing the way they'd come, making mental notes of landmarks to look for on the return.

 

"Things look different going the other way," said Sgt. John Durand, who heads the county's search and rescue program. "So every once in a while you have to stop and turn around and look at where you just came from."

 

Actually, when Sirrs tried doing that, all it did was disorient her. "I knew in my mind I could not find a marker," she admitted later. "That should have raised a flag."

 

MISTAKE NO. 4: They could see a dirt road only a couple of hundred yards below them -- the 1400 Oak Creek Road, the area's main arterial -- but couldn't manage to find a way down the steep slopes to reach it.

 

Here's the thing: If you're lost and there's a road in sight, find a sightline landmark beyond it, something high enough that you'll be able to see it from most vantage points, and then work towards it. If that means moving laterally to get around cliffs and impassable slopes, fine: You still have that landmark to home in on, and if you keep moving toward it, you'll hit that road.

 

The obvious caveat, though, is that you shouldn't endanger yourself trying to get to it. Falling down a steep slope and breaking a leg -- or more -- won't help your chances of being found.

 

Fleming and Sirrs would say they made other mistakes as well, but these four are enough: Had any one of them been avoided, the pair might not have been lost for three days. They know it, and -- to their credit -- they want you to know it.

 

"We're experienced, and it still happened to us," Fleming said. "It could happen to you, too."

 

Take heed.

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Yeah it kind of makes you wonder why they even mentioned Geocaching. They obviously weren't on a hunt without a GPSr (well maybe...).

 

I just hope my wife doesn't read this. I sometimes don't give her a lot of details when I go out for a spur of the moment hike and I get flak for it. Well deserved flak, but she has enough fears as is.

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It looks like there were two separate incidents, so I suspect that maybe the author amalgamated their stories into one. The geocacher must have had a GPSr, but may not have known how to use it fully, or the batteries died, or it fell in a creek.

 

There’s really nothing new here, people have been getting lost under those circumstances for forever. On my second to last run up the Pete’s Creek Trail to Col Bob, I encountered a fallen tree all over the trail. Other hikers had attempted to go around it and as a result there were spur trails going every which way. Try as I might, I couldn’t find the trail, and I’m no stranger to that area. It took a radio call to TotemLake to get me reoriented.

 

It doesn’t take much. If it happens, you’d do well to have a few of those ten essentials, no matter how often you are ridiculed for carrying them.

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It looks like there were two separate incidents, so I suspect that maybe the author amalgamated their stories into one. The geocacher must have had a GPSr, but may not have known how to use it fully, or the batteries died, or it fell in a creek.

 

There’s really nothing new here, people have been getting lost under those circumstances for forever. On my second to last run up the Pete’s Creek Trail to Col Bob, I encountered a fallen tree all over the trail. Other hikers had attempted to go around it and as a result there were spur trails going every which way. Try as I might, I couldn’t find the trail, and I’m no stranger to that area. It took a radio call to TotemLake to get me reoriented.

 

It doesn’t take much. If it happens, you’d do well to have a few of those ten essentials, no matter how often you are ridiculed for carrying them.

To give credit where due, it was SquareBear that discovered where the trail took back up past the fallen tree, but that was after we had followed one of the spur trails for about 30 feet to realize we were starting to work the wrong side of the hill.

 

The point is, always be aware of your surroundings and notice landmarks and things like the contour of the landscape. You just might have to backtrack and seeing something familiar on the way back goes a long way to allaying your fears.

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I just hope my wife doesn't read this. I sometimes don't give her a lot of details when I go out for a spur of the moment hike and I get flak for it. Well deserved flak, but she has enough fears as is.

Me too. Somehow telling my wife I'm going out geocaching and I'll probably head towards Idaho, just doesn't cut it.....

 

I've probably come closer to being lost since I started geocaching than I ever did before I carried a GPS. I used to pay close attention to where I was and what route I would take back. Now I have my nose glued to the little arrow that I follow to the cache. Several times, after signing the log, I've looked around and realized that I didn't really know how I got there, or exactly which way the car was. Of course it's easy to back track with the GPS, but if it chose that moment to "pack it in", or if the batteries died, I could have had a problem. This is a bad habit I've been working on correcting!

Edited by MtnGoat50
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I just hope my wife doesn't read this. I sometimes don't give her a lot of details when I go out for a spur of the moment hike and I get flak for it. Well deserved flak, but she has enough fears as is.

Me too. Somehow telling her I'm going out geocaching and I'll probably head towards Idaho, just doesn't cut it.....

It may be none of my business, but what the hell are you doing talking to MA's wife?

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I just hope my wife doesn't read this. I sometimes don't give her a lot of details when I go out for a spur of the moment hike and I get flak for it. Well deserved flak, but she has enough fears as is.

Me too. Somehow telling her I'm going out geocaching and I'll probably head towards Idaho, just doesn't cut it.....

It may be none of my business, but what the hell are you doing talking to MA's wife?

Har Har Har. You knew what I meant but I fixed it anyway. ;):):laughing:

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We got into geocaching a couple of months ago when we bought a GPS for hiking. We do some hiking in the Arizona desert, and we realized it was insane to go out, even with experienced locals, without a reliable way to backtrack. Since then, one of our Arizona hiking buddies got a GPS for the same reason. And another is getting ready to do the same thing. can we get a commission from Garmin? ;)

 

It is so easy to do something incredibly stupid without realizing it. About a month ago, we did what we thought would be an easy hike in California. Turned out to be desert conditions on the trail, and we were light on water. We could have gotten into real trouble. Fortunately, no real problems, other than a few nervous minutes wondering if our water was going to hold out. A sobering experience.

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Looks like the smartest one in the bunch was the dog: linky

 

And when Magnus, who had been eating mud the day before, didn't want to move Friday, Fleming worried. She thought the American Water Spaniel would die.

 

"I though he was dying," she said. "So I took off his collar and said good-bye."

The rescuers had more good news as they carried the two women out of the woods on ATVs. They said Fleming's dog had made it back to her car.

 

"I had no idea he had it in him," she said. "I should have known he had it in him."

 

Magnus: "These guys have been going in the wrong direction for days. I'm tired of eating mud, I want a milkbone, damnit.

Screw them, I'm done with this wilderness crap. I'm going back to the car."

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Looks like the smartest one in the bunch was the dog: linky

 

And when Magnus, who had been eating mud the day before, didn't want to move Friday, Fleming worried. She thought the American Water Spaniel would die.

 

"I though he was dying," she said. "So I took off his collar and said good-bye."

The rescuers had more good news as they carried the two women out of the woods on ATVs. They said Fleming's dog had made it back to her car.

 

"I had no idea he had it in him," she said. "I should have known he had it in him."

 

Magnus: "These guys have been going in the wrong direction for days. I'm tired of eating mud, I want a milkbone, damnit.

Screw them, I'm done with this wilderness crap. I'm going back to the car."

Not to poke fun at others' misfortunes,but :) .

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I would hardly describe either of these women as "outdoorswoman." It sounds like two contestants for the Darwin awards. I almost wish the gene pool had a nice dose of chlorine to cleans itself of foolish people like this.

 

 

On a side not, I live in very open terrain (Mojave Desert) and have never been hiked in an area like the cascades where the tree cover is so thick, that you can't see 50 feet in front of you. How do you guys use a topo map while hiking through the thick stuff? How do find reference points, when you can see more than a few feet? In my area, I can almost always see for miles and miles and visible references are easy to compare on topo maps.

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I would hardly describe either of these women as "outdoorswoman." It sounds like two contestants for the Darwin awards. I almost wish the gene pool had a nice dose of chlorine to cleans itself of foolish people like this.

 

 

On a side not, I live in very open terrain (Mojave Desert) and have never been hiked in an area like the cascades where the tree cover is so thick, that you can't see 50 feet in front of you. How do you guys use a topo map while hiking through the thick stuff? How do find reference points, when you can see more than a few feet? In my area, I can almost always see for miles and miles and visible references are easy to compare on topo maps.

 

When you find yourself lost, ]do like that teacher that was lost in the Olympics. Find a high point to get better landmarks when a low meadow is socked in. With a good topo map and compass, you can get a quick layout of the land and figure out where you are. And again, as I stated before, you have to pay attention to the contour of the land. Without that, SquareBear and I would not have paid attention we were starting to head away from our target.

 

Before you go in, you study the map and the general layout, then pay attention through the hike.

Edited by TotemLake
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All I can say is... anytime I go hiking, even if it doesn't involve Geocaching, I bring my GPS.

 

I always make a waypoint of where I parked, maybe the trail head and spots along the way... just in case.

 

I once got somewhat lost as it was getting dark and I could not find the trail. I started to panic a bit but reminded myself that I took a waypoint to my car and an hour later, I was back in the car. A bit scratched up but safe and sound :-)

 

Dave

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To piggback on what TotemLake said, it’s a good idea to bring a good topo map along with you when you hike, even if it’s a trail you’re familiar with. Topos are funny things, they have tons of information but also some limitations. By following along as you hike a familiar trail, you will learn. For those in the PNW, the Col Bob Trail (more so than the Pete’s Creek Trail) is an excellent choice for this.

 

Example: If you’re wearing an altimeter, you can use that information to help you find your position, even in total cloud-out.

 

Say you’re lost. If you have a map, even without a compass, you can use your GPSr to resolve your position on your map. Once you know where you are on the map, you can observe the contour lines and determine a route that avoids steep terrain or leads you to water.

Trust me, they’re fun to use.

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How do you guys use a topo map while hiking through the thick stuff? How do find reference points, when you can see more than a few feet? In my area, I can almost always see for miles and miles and visible references are easy to compare on topo maps.

 

It can be a challenge. Sometimes you can't see many landmarks at all, but I've never been in a forest so dense that I failed to spot a remarkable tree fifty or a hundred feet away... so "leapfrogging" is an option, although prone to error. One can double check by checking landmarks that appear in the opposite direction when you turn around and orient "backwards."

 

I know my starting point, I always have at least a map and compass, and I tend to follow established trails :D Orienting by map requires having that map out when you START the hike and checking direction from the beginning.

 

Also (no offense), but GPS units are a back up. Electronics can fail. I also always prepare various exit strategies ahead of time. I will study topos and road maps of the area for an hour or two before I go. Ok, two hours studying maps might be an exaggeration... I am usually eating a meal in front of the computer and listening to All Songs Considered between trips to the fridge and to check on the kids.

 

Backup plans are essential. Before I hike a location, I check the nearest roads that "enclose" the area in as many directions as possible and can always stear towards one of them if i have to. Not always helpful in wetland areas ... ACK.

 

These things are a good idea even for a little day hike. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I haven't been seriously lost yet... OOPS did I just tempt fate... (cower, fall to knees, look humble, etc.)

 

Even trails can be a problem. I forget which book (I have a stack of backpacking books... as I suspect most of us do) which puts it well... the trail can be as little as six inches wide... walk a few feet to the left or right and look at the trail from a right angle and often you can't see it among all the undergrowth and tree trunks! It totally "disappears" into the landscape.

 

What's really weird is that I feel like I would be totally freaked out hiking in a dessert! All that direct sun sucking the moisture out of my body... no protective canopy overhead. All that open space. How can one judge distances in such an environment? Is that peak a mile away or fifty miles away? It all looks the same. Panic sets in. Funny isn't it? I guess it's all what one is used to.

Edited by 2brnot2b
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On a side note, I live in very open terrain (Mojave Desert) and have never been hiked in an area like the cascades where the tree cover is so thick, that you can't see 50 feet in front of you. How do you guys use a topo map while hiking through the thick stuff? How do find reference points, when you can see more than a few feet?

 

I spend a lot of time wandering around in the Green Swamp in central Florida. I don't carry a topo map, though I have the topo maps on my gps. In swamp, topo map isn't providing a bunch of info. The major rivers and roads are the only reference points and through the center of swamp the rivers are so undefined and wandering that the map can be wrong. Even the roads, often the remains of elevated rail trams from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, aren't necessarily as indicated. Once they start eroding they go fast.

 

I always carry a compass and occasionally use it.

 

We found a cache recently using the compass - tree cover was so bad that both gpsr units were out of signal. We had a heading and used the "sight a notable tree out there 100 feet" and slog to it, then sight another, across about .8 miles of cypress swamp.

 

Having a knowledge of where you are in relation to reliable road is key. This is not so large an area that you're ever more than a couple miles from reasonably well defined 2 track. But I'm not sure that carrying a topo, if you were unfamiliar would help, it's not like there's going to be a distinct knob or peak to get you oriented. Carrying a compass, so you can hold a heading and not circle, is critical. If you just hold a line, you'll hit 2 track.

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A word to the wise, though -- unless you specifically need to be available to outside calls, keep your cell phone turned off. You want there to be some battery life should a 9-1-1 call become imperative.

 

Something to think about...

Mom, children found in Oregon mountains; dad still missing

Searchers had tracked the family to the Bear Camp area by tracing signals from a cell phone the Kims were carrying. The Kims couldn't make a call, but their attempt was enough to narrow the search area. Anderson said the effort was "critical" in finding Kati Kim and the children before it was too late.

 

Searchers keep up hunt for CNET editor in rugged terrain

Rescue efforts Monday shifted back to the Bear Camp area in Josephine County after information surfaced that a cellular tower received a signal from one of the family's phones. Authorities credit an employee of Oregon cell provider Edge Wireless with creating computer models to triangulate the phone's location.

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A word to the wise, though -- unless you specifically need to be available to outside calls, keep your cell phone turned off. You want there to be some battery life should a 9-1-1 call become imperative.

 

Something to think about...

Mom, children found in Oregon mountains; dad still missing

Searchers had tracked the family to the Bear Camp area by tracing signals from a cell phone the Kims were carrying. The Kims couldn't make a call, but their attempt was enough to narrow the search area. Anderson said the effort was "critical" in finding Kati Kim and the children before it was too late.

 

Searchers keep up hunt for CNET editor in rugged terrain

Rescue efforts Monday shifted back to the Bear Camp area in Josephine County after information surfaced that a cellular tower received a signal from one of the family's phones. Authorities credit an employee of Oregon cell provider Edge Wireless with creating computer models to triangulate the phone's location.

All well and good IF you're already lost. The reason to keep the cell phone off while out of cellular range is to conserve the battery until such time as it is needed. The phone uses up the battery faster while searching for a network to latch onto.

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A word to the wise, though -- unless you specifically need to be available to outside calls, keep your cell phone turned off. You want there to be some battery life should a 9-1-1 call become imperative.

 

Something to think about...

Mom, children found in Oregon mountains; dad still missing

Searchers had tracked the family to the Bear Camp area by tracing signals from a cell phone the Kims were carrying. The Kims couldn't make a call, but their attempt was enough to narrow the search area. Anderson said the effort was "critical" in finding Kati Kim and the children before it was too late.

 

Searchers keep up hunt for CNET editor in rugged terrain

Rescue efforts Monday shifted back to the Bear Camp area in Josephine County after information surfaced that a cellular tower received a signal from one of the family's phones. Authorities credit an employee of Oregon cell provider Edge Wireless with creating computer models to triangulate the phone's location.

All well and good IF you're already lost. The reason to keep the cell phone off while out of cellular range is to conserve the battery until such time as it is needed. The phone uses up the battery faster while searching for a network to latch onto.

 

The point was - When you do need to use the phone - a lack of a connection at your end DOES NOT mean your phone/you cannot be found.

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Since getting Garmin Nuvi car navigation unit for driving, i've begun to slip it into my pocket as a backup when I leave the car for the woods. I guess its good for up to 8 hours fully charged. It has a off road-pedestrian mode that will provide straight line bearing back to the car. There aren't any topo maps, but the Sirf Star III receiver/chip provides great signals in the heavy foliage in my neck of the woods.

 

Actually that's a second backup. I had been carying my Vista and a PPC for paperless caching that also has navigation programs built in including NG 24K topo maps giving real time location right on the 24K map.

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On a side note, I live in very open terrain (Mojave Desert) and have never been hiked in an area like the cascades where the tree cover is so thick, that you can't see 50 feet in front of you. How do you guys use a topo map while hiking through the thick stuff? How do find reference points, when you can see more than a few feet?

 

I spend a lot of time wandering around in the Green Swamp in central Florida. I don't carry a topo map, though I have the topo maps on my gps. In swamp, topo map isn't providing a bunch of info. The major rivers and roads are the only reference points and through the center of swamp the rivers are so undefined and wandering that the map can be wrong. Even the roads, often the remains of elevated rail trams from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, aren't necessarily as indicated. Once they start eroding they go fast.

 

I always carry a compass and occasionally use it.

 

We found a cache recently using the compass - tree cover was so bad that both gpsr units were out of signal. We had a heading and used the "sight a notable tree out there 100 feet" and slog to it, then sight another, across about .8 miles of cypress swamp.

 

Having a knowledge of where you are in relation to reliable road is key. This is not so large an area that you're ever more than a couple miles from reasonably well defined 2 track. But I'm not sure that carrying a topo, if you were unfamiliar would help, it's not like there's going to be a distinct knob or peak to get you oriented. Carrying a compass, so you can hold a heading and not circle, is critical. If you just hold a line, you'll hit 2 track.

I had the opportunity to learn land navigation as a young soldier stationed in Panama. I agree, Knowledge of where you are in relation to key features is important. In the jungle, even from hilltops, you can't see very far and streams, rivers and roads are often hidden. We became very skilled in terrain association using a topo map, in addition to accurate compass work (holding a straight line) and pace counts. The most important thing to realize is that you must go out and actually get on the ground and get the feel of the land. Spend time going out and studying the map and the ground. It does take practice but it's not difficult to sharpen these skills.

 

After leaving Panama, I went to Fort Irwin Ca. in the Mojave desert. I was totaly blown away by the vast expance of the terrain. I found navigation to be quite easier since I could see for miles and miles. Even now, living in the suburbs of Chicago, I practice using terrain association while in the local forest preserves. I find it fun and it helps keep those skills from deteriorating. I have been with individuals in the jungle that used no compass, and relied only on terrain association to get from one point to another. I enjoy using these skills while geocaching, and have found many caches without a GPS.

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I never would have thought this could happen to me until just recently when I had my own experience with being lost in the woods. I had marked the location of the car (didn't think of marking the trailheads but I will from now on) but had bushwhacked so far that I was reluctent to take the same route I used to get there. It was a scary situation, but I learned some valueable lessons that day.

 

(So did my husband...he didn't go out on the trail with me that day and after a few hours decided he didn't want to wait for me so he drove home! Needless to say when I found my way out and walked the two miles back to the parking lot to my cell phone, he got quite an earfull!)

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I never would have thought this could happen to me until just recently when I had my own experience with being lost in the woods. I had marked the location of the car (didn't think of marking the trailheads but I will from now on) but had bushwhacked so far that I was reluctent to take the same route I used to get there. It was a scary situation, but I learned some valueable lessons that day.

 

(So did my husband...he didn't go out on the trail with me that day and after a few hours decided he didn't want to wait for me so he drove home! Needless to say when I found my way out and walked the two miles back to the parking lot to my cell phone, he got quite an earfull!)

So let me get this straight, YOU screwed up so your husband was in trouble.

Logically this makes no sence; but as a husband I get it.

 

If your husband drove home, I assume he drove home in a car, what was your cell phone doing in the parking lot?

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Isn't it part of the marriage vows that if the wife screws up it's the husband's fault and if the husband screws up it's his fault too? Okay, so we gals are too hard on our hubbies sometimes! I admit it! :ph34r:

 

So just to clarify; two cars in the parking lot. Hubby drove off in his; cell phone was in mine. I guess I just would have liked for him to be worried about me or something instead of just leaving me there in the woods!? :unsure:

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Here's my $.02. In addition to all the other "survival" gear I carry, I always have in my backpack an aviation radio that I can talk to any airplane that happens to be flying over. Even in canyons or deep forests where a cell phone would not get any reception at all. Especially in a search and rescue situation I would be able to talk to the "High Bird"and give them my exact coords. Even in an entrapment situation, (like the guy that had to cut off his arm to get away,) I could talk to an airliner that happens to fly over and he would be happy to relay my SOS to the local Sherrif's Dept. You can buy these radfios new for less than $300 or even cheaper used. One of these radios and an hour training with a flight instructer at your local airport and you can feel a lot more confident in the "Deep Woods".

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A word to the wise, though -- unless you specifically need to be available to outside calls, keep your cell phone turned off. You want there to be some battery life should a 9-1-1 call become imperative.

 

Something to think about...

Mom, children found in Oregon mountains; dad still missing

Searchers had tracked the family to the Bear Camp area by tracing signals from a cell phone the Kims were carrying. The Kims couldn't make a call, but their attempt was enough to narrow the search area. Anderson said the effort was "critical" in finding Kati Kim and the children before it was too late.

 

Searchers keep up hunt for CNET editor in rugged terrain

Rescue efforts Monday shifted back to the Bear Camp area in Josephine County after information surfaced that a cellular tower received a signal from one of the family's phones. Authorities credit an employee of Oregon cell provider Edge Wireless with creating computer models to triangulate the phone's location.

All well and good IF you're already lost. The reason to keep the cell phone off while out of cellular range is to conserve the battery until such time as it is needed. The phone uses up the battery faster while searching for a network to latch onto.

 

The point was - When you do need to use the phone - a lack of a connection at your end DOES NOT mean your phone/you cannot be found.

 

I went back a few months to find the sad story of the Kims that could have been my own.

While competing in "Counting Counties in Oregon" (GCR9XY), I determined that to have any chance of winning I had to do Curry county's only 5/5 cache. "Just Clowning Around" is on the south side of the Rogue River. This cache is about 4 miles downstream (west) of where Mr. Kim died 3 weeks later.

To get me to the jumpoff point I had a good BLM map. I had driven most of the night through some snow in the Cascades and arrived at the jumpoff point at 8:30AM 11/9/06. I had a cellphone with me but knew it did not work anywhere within 30 miles of there so I had it off. The three vital things that I packed were a 6V lantern, my Suunto compass and a small amount of food.

I left the truck at 8:30AM into the wet brush, found the cache at 2:20PM and used the compass to get back to the truck since the GPS would not track more than 2 sats inside the deep canyon.

I arrived back at the truck at 9:30PM. I was glad that I had a dry change of clothes in the truck. I was also glad that the BLM had not decided to lock the gate while I was in there. Mr. Kim drove through the same open gate soon after Thanksgiving.

If there had been a search for me, my wife knew the general area I wa headed to and a Forest Service friend knew where my jumpoff point was. My wife got a cellphone call from Merlin at 2:30AM which was the first place I could get cell coverage.

This year the BLM decided to lock the gate last week. They or the Forest Service also put up some new warning signs since the road to Agness and the coast is never plowed. Most of the published maps show this road to the coast but have no warning that the road may be closed in winter.

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Here's my $.02. In addition to all the other "survival" gear I carry, I always have in my backpack an aviation radio that I can talk to any airplane that happens to be flying over. Even in canyons or deep forests where a cell phone would not get any reception at all. Especially in a search and rescue situation I would be able to talk to the "High Bird"and give them my exact coords. Even in an entrapment situation, (like the guy that had to cut off his arm to get away,) I could talk to an airliner that happens to fly over and he would be happy to relay my SOS to the local Sherrif's Dept. You can buy these radfios new for less than $300 or even cheaper used. One of these radios and an hour training with a flight instructer at your local airport and you can feel a lot more confident in the "Deep Woods".

I carry a HAM radio for the very same reason. I can't speak for other parts of the country, but it seems no matter where I'm at in Washington, I can hit a repeater and call for help. Now I'm talking my wife into getting her ticket so she can listen for me when she is at home. There are times when I'm still an hour or more drive away from the nearest cell phone tower to let her know I'm off the mountain.

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Isn't it part of the marriage vows that if the wife screws up it's the husband's fault and if the husband screws up it's his fault too? Okay, so we gals are too hard on our hubbies sometimes! I admit it! :ph34r:

 

So just to clarify; two cars in the parking lot. Hubby drove off in his; cell phone was in mine. I guess I just would have liked for him to be worried about me or something instead of just leaving me there in the woods!? :ph34r:

 

Why don't you tell him how you feel?

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I would hardly describe either of these women as "outdoorswoman." It sounds like two contestants for the Darwin awards. I almost wish the gene pool had a nice dose of chlorine to cleans itself of foolish people like this.

 

 

On a side not, I live in very open terrain (Mojave Desert) and have never been hiked in an area like the cascades where the tree cover is so thick, that you can't see 50 feet in front of you. How do you guys use a topo map while hiking through the thick stuff? How do find reference points, when you can see more than a few feet? In my area, I can almost always see for miles and miles and visible references are easy to compare on topo maps.

 

I lived in the Sierra Nevada Mts. and spent two summers working for the Forest Service, archaeology dept. Every day we would survey a vast area using compass and topo map to get from point A to point B and back to the truck. There was often a thick, high canopy, like in the Cascades, and we would have to often use the next tree as a reference or frequently look at the compass needle to stay on course. We always made it back exactly to the truck. Additionally, we got really good at reading the topo map like a photo and just by looking at the contour lines we could tell approximately where we were located. Alternatively, if two mountains could be viewed in the distance, we could plot our position on the map by getting azimuths to both locations and seeing where the lines crossed.

Recently, I planted a multicache in the southern Cascades. The second leg has the hiker going through a high, thick canopy with little geographical reference points. That is why I suggested in the cache description that the geocacher bring a compass and map as a backup to the GPS - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...9b-6328587e0fbd .

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