The Confused, The Lost, & The REALLY lost.

[+BrrrMo]

If this needs to be in a different Forum please move.

 

I heve never been REALLY lost because most of my Caching is done in areas where I almost always know if I walk far enough in a certain direction I will come to road "such-an-such"

 

In addition what do you carry to help people find you? A cell phone, but if you are lost how can you tell anyone where you are.

 

I carry a whistle as a signalling device, 3 blast repeated 3 times means HELP! 3 toots on a horn, etc.

[+SkellyCA]

Once you arrive at the parking lot of where you will be searching, mark your car as a waypoint. Also, learned how to use your GPS trackback feature, so you can track back where you came from

[Mr.Yuck]

Once you arrive at the parking lot of where you will be searching, mark your car as a waypoint. Also, learned how to use your GPS trackback feature, so you can track back where you came from

 

Well, I didn't know that in 2003, when I was about 3 months in, and got really lost in a 1,500 acre County Park on lunch hour. I found a dead-end street (about a mile from my car), and knocked on a door to ask how to get back to the park. I started the probably 2 mile walk along roads to get back, and a neighbor heard about my misfortune, and drove up and offered me a ride. Turns out this neighbor was an extremely famous retired local TV and radio personality. I didn't mention that to him though, and pretended I didn't recognize him. Yep, that sucked. Use the track log.

[7rxc]

If this needs to be in a different Forum please move.

 

I heve never been REALLY lost because most of my Caching is done in areas where I almost always know if I walk far enough in a certain direction I will come to road "such-an-such"

 

In addition what do you carry to help people find you? A cell phone, but if you are lost how can you tell anyone where you are.

 

I carry a whistle as a signalling device, 3 blast repeated 3 times means HELP! 3 toots on a horn, etc.

 

You have the signal correct... and some good advice re: marking the car location... mine always says

CAR for the waypoint name... I also keep HOME and a few other significant local TOWNA, TOWNB and so on

for just in case... IF you are serious about going way way out... or even into isolated local areas...

TELL SOMEONE reliable where you intend to go, and when you will be back... and REMEMBER to let them know you got back in one piece. Serious trips require serious planning and gear. I'd recommend dropping into your local Search and Rescue Team website, or look for one on the web... They have lots of

good suggestions re: Trip Plans and basic survival gear... for all sorts of activities. I used to think that it was a bit 'silly' to worry about a short caching trip... Now I take basic stuff if I'm out of sight of the car.

And if I'm going deeper in I carry my 24hr SAR pack and Ham Radio HT. Out here in Elkford, BC, once you leave town, you are in the wilderness, and amongst other things it can and will bite you, given the chance.

 

Of course you might not need help yourself, but may be able to help someone else... and yes, I have been lost a few times, although the Army taught me you only make tactical deviations...

 

One big thought... make sure you have spare batteries for your GPS, and a map and compass...

They don't work well without the batteries (GPS not compass and map)...

 

Any other questions, I'm watching.

[sdarken]

In addition what do you carry to help people find you? A cell phone, but if you are lost how can you tell anyone where you are.

 

If you're geocaching, presumably you're going to be carrying a GPSr. The coordinates shown on your GPSr are the most accurate way to tell people exactly where you are. If you have cell-phone reception you could call a geocaching friend for help. Of course, in an emergency, call 911 and give the first person you speak to, your coordinates (in case your cell phone battery goes dead). I would imagine that GPSr units are becomming more and more common equipement for emergency personnel to be carrying.

 

While geocaching off-trail I had to call 911 for a medical emergency for a hiking friend. I gave my coordinates and a verbal description of the location relative to the nearest trails. When the rescue people arrived one of the guys showed me that he found us with a Garmin 60csx, the same unit that I was carrying.

 

Assuming that your GPSr keeps your track, learning how to read and follow your track is the best way to ensure that you dont get lost in the first place.

[+Nerves]

Well, Auntie Weasel & I weren't exactly lost but close to it...

 

We went to Mt. Tom and climbed the craggy cliffs to the ridge on the top. We were two somwehat out-of-shape, acrophobic, dizzy broads attempting to hike the entire ridge and back to the car before dark which just did not happen. We spent an awful lot of time sliding on butt cheeks over pointy rocks and lurching along the rocky ridge with one hand held up to the side of our faces like a blinder so we couldn't see the sheer drop over the cliffs all the while grasping tiny saplings with sweaty palms. Before we knew it, it was 2:30 p.m. and it was getting dark at 4-ish so there was no way we could get back to the car in the daylight.

 

Turns out we were clear on the other side of the mountain. It was real sphincter clenching fun to think we might have to spend the night on the top of the ridge on a cold November night. Fortunately, we ran into a cache owner who rescued us from spending a night freezing our nether regions and fending off curious wildlife.

 

Dang stoopid. And lucky.

[+Anachronite]

seems hard to get lost when you have a gps to guide you home. hehehe

[+WRASTRO]

seems hard to get lost when you have a gps to guide you home. hehehe

All I can say is don't ever put yourself in a situation where your GPS is your only way to find your way home or back to the trailhead. If you are going to venture into the wilds and you want to improve your chances of returning alive you should have a good knowledge of the area, maps, compass, etc., and know how to use your equipment. And you should have other appropriate gear for the conditions. If you don't you are setting yourself up to be on the eleven o'clock news in a way I am sure most of us would not look forward to.

[+WatchDog2020]

I had my GPSr crash 3 miles from my car in an area I never was in before. Thank god I had a topo map with me and put little marks every so often of my route before the GPS died. If you don't know how to use a map and compass, learn. Also, I leave my name and area I'm heading to (coords) on a piece of paper on my dash of the car so you can read in thru the window.

[+The Jester]

seems hard to get lost when you have a gps to guide you home. hehehe

When you get a lousy satellite configuration* and the mountains are blocking too many signals, your GPSr is just a useless lump. The one time that happened to me, was the same day I'd left the trail map in the car. But I knew enough about the area to use the compass to get back to known trails.

 

*Other things can mess you up- reflectived signals (I've seen a .4 mile error), dropped & broken units, dead batteries, etc..

[+The Jester]

seems hard to get lost when you have a gps to guide you home. hehehe

When you get a lousy satellite configuration* and the mountains are blocking too many signals, your GPSr is just a useless lump. The one time that happened to me, was the same day I'd left the trail map in the car. But I knew enough about the area to use the compass to get back to known trails.

 

*Other things can mess you up- reflectived signals (I've seen a .4 mile error), dropped & broken units, dead batteries, etc..

[+PlantAKiss]

I was caching alone in an unfamilar park with trails crisscrossing all over the place. The day hadn't gone very well to begin with (my fault, I had forgotten my paper cache descriptions). I was almost at GZ when my GPSr died. Died meaning broke. The sun was setting. I had no idea where I was. I had even remembered to mark the parking lot but that didn't do me any good. I felt a little panicky because I was afraid if I chose a trail, it would just take me deeper into the park on more trails I didn't know. I was just imagining myself wandering around in the woods til it got dark and having to call someone to come rescue me. lol Thankfully, after some thoughtful consideration of the surrounding area, I made a choice of trails and it turned out I was just a bit away from the parking lot. I was so relieved I didn't have to embarrass myself by having to be "rescued."

[+Albanysquad]

Yesterday when we were geocaching we got lost. We had been driven up to the Wilcat Canyon park, a park about 5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide at the widest, .75 miles wide at the narrowest. While it may not seem very big, it was just large enough that after we got to the first cache, we were well away from any trail. Unfortunately we had forgotten our map, and just decided to go to the next cache in a straight line using our GPS. We went up and down many many ridges, and down and up many many ditches. There also was bushwacking involved, forging paths through thickets and briar patches alike. We also saw cows in the fields, meant to reduce fuel for wildfires! When we finally got to the cache, we couldn't find it after half an hour of searching grr. So then we were lost. We got unlost by walking in a line toward where we thought the road was.

[+StarBrand]

Early on I learned the importance of marking your car if you are not in the city.

 

I went after a cache about half a mile from the road up a steep tree covered hill. I was so annoyed that my GPS was only getting an occasional signal that I paid too much attention to it while I walked. Finally got a solid sat lock and found the cache quickly at the top of the rise. I stuffed the GPS in my pocket and headed back to the car. About 20 minutes later, I was nowhere near a road and feeling very lost. I doubled back to the hill top and tried a new direction down. I eventually got out on the road about 500 yards from the car. The disorientation was scary for a few minutes until I got to really thinking about where to go.

 

I always mark the car these days and know how to follow my GPS backtrack.

[GPS-Hermit]

I have never been lost - but once did not want to go back the way I came because of so many horrible briars. I tried to come down the mountain to a road that circled it below me and the rodo-dadgum-drums blocked my path on 3 sides of the mountain. I could not reach the road. I used the tract log to find another way back around the briars while still being able to see where I left the trail on the tract log map page. Pretty cool I thought and I got back to my car just as darkness fell. Worst case - I had no flashlight, Jacket, food, compass or map. I had put the wrong co-ords in to find a cache which took me into neverland.

 

I do alot of things different after that.

 

Always take a headlight, Compass, map, down go late, triple check the co-ords, mark the car, mark the car, mark the car. Take a daypark with extra stuff in it. Research all area before you go. I have also gotten better with the maps and can now locate myself on the map after printing the Grid and reading current position from the GPS. I also kept my old GPS when I upgraded, as a back up. Back up not as helpful unless the co-ords are in it too. If you print the grids on the map you can enter the Co-ords from the map. Also very cool

 

I learned alot from www.maptools.com they show how to make some neat little take along tools. Stables has a small covered clipboard for $13.00 to put maps and accessories in, fits in a day pack just perfect. I include a calculater, ruler, pencil and hand made corner tool. Really neat to play with.

Edited February 12, 2009 by GPS-Hermit

[+NotThePainter]

I was laying out a multi that was 2 miles long and 1.35 miles of that was bushwhacking. It perhaps an hour or two before sunset and even though I had been in this section of woods before at one time I was hit with a true sense of disorientation.

 

I came across a path and wanted to turn left on it. But my GPS and the setting sun told me to turn right. I really had to fight my desire to turn. I was about to convince myself that the GPS and the sun were wrong.

 

Very weird feeling...

[+Clothahump]

As has been mentioned, always mark the car. Always. Even if you're only walking 100 yards, do it just to reinforce the habit.

 

And the trackback will take you back to where you found the easy way over the fence, etc.

[+Mredria]

The only time I've ever been REALLY lost in the woods was long before I started caching. Now that I cache I've started getting a better sense of direction and where I've been. I think that now that I cache I'm LESS likely to get lost. I've always blamed it on being a girl; my sense of direction is worthless.

of course my definition of lost is not able to get home. If I can't find the thing i'm looking for than ITS lost, not me.

[+Trucker Lee]

I am a professional truck driver, and more importantly.......... male.

 

I never get lost. Never! That said, there has been a couple of times I found myself severely misplaced.

[+nelson crew]

We found ourselves taking an extended "tour" of Milo McIver park in Oregon within our first month of caching. What we thought was a basic .3 mile hike straight in turned out to be a couple of miles of switchbacks that then lead us to a whole different area of the park. Talk about a learning experience.

 

Milo McIver was awesome, though, can't wait to get back (with proper preparation, of course).