Had a Bit of an Unintended Adventure on Today's Hike

snubbyfan

snubbyfan

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For some unknown reason, I decided to visit an old side trail I haven't been up for a while.
It was a familiar trail but it had grown in quite a bit. Still, I was able to follow it to the top of a nice sunny ridge.
It was when I was on my way back down that the real adventure started.
I was walking along, daydreaming, enjoying the weather, planning supper, basically everything else but paying attention to the trail.
Then I realized that something don't look right.
I was off trail, way off. I found that I was following a game trail.
"Oh poop!"
I thought the correct trail was just a short bushwack away.
A short bushwack turned into a longer bushwack.
Wrong.
Okay try backtracking. Unfortunately, out of habit, I endeavor to leave no discernible trail when I'm hiking. So, I was having troubles tracking myself back to where I went off trail.
Okay, that's not working and I'm not gonna just wander around in the woods lost.
Now I know that the trail follows a ridge and that a stream spills over the ridge in one place.
Okay, simple enough, find the ridge. But what direction is it?
A compass heading would've been so helpful, 'cept I don't have one with me and the sun was straight above me so that didn't help.
I broke most all of my own hiking rules.
I didn't check my back trail, I didn't make note of land marks, I wasn't even sure of which direction I was going.
I had no supplies, just a pair of boots and shorts.
Luckily, I was wearing my good boots that gave my ankles good support and had some good knobbies on the bottom.
Okay, what to do to get myself out of the woods?
Now I knew that a stream spilled over the edge of the ridge. So I looked for a dried stream bed.
Alright, now I'll just follow this downstream and that should lead me to the ridge.
I walked the dried stream bed and it spilled out onto a small kinda flood plain. It was one of those moments when I wished I had a camera with me. It was sun dappled lush and beautiful.
Anyway, it eventually separated into 2 streams on either side of the clearing. They converged and flowed into a large rock outcropping. It looked like a game trail went over the outcropping at it lowest spot. So up I went.
I figured I might at least be able to see something from the top.
I saw something.
There was another rock mound that looked kinda familiar.
Wishful thinking or have I actually found myself back at the trail?
I climbed that and "Hey, there's the trail!"
Not sure how long it took but I knew I still had nearly 3 miles back to the truck and the first mile's all uphill to the top of another ridge then down the other side.
I stopped, found a breeze, took a deep breath and off I went.
I added about an hour and a half to my hike time.
I managed to get home before my wife came home from work, get a snack and hydrate.
About half an hour later my wife came home, put on her boots and off we went on another hike.

A few lessons learned.
I was glad I do lotsa hiking, gave me the ability to keep going 'till I found my way back.
A rock climbing background came in very handy.
I managed to think logically and keep calm.
Never take familiarity with a trail for granted. Especially if I haven't hiked that trail for a while and sections were completely grown over.
Always pay attention and check my back trail.

I always bragged that this gimpy Injun don't get lost in the woods and I had no intention of making myself a liar.
 
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It helps a lot to know the terrain that you're hiking. You knowing the mountain and ridges helped you a lot but just goes to show you it can happen. Out here in the desert people get lost all the time and sometime I really don't understand how. With no trees to obscure your view out here if you just climb a hill or ridge it's easy for me anyway to figure out exactly where I am. Every week there are news reports of people getting lost and rescue teams going out to find them. I think most of them are probably not out door people and don't understand the desert and how to find your way out. It seems more people today get lost than there was years ago. If there isn't a real defined trail people panic and wander in all directions and a lot of them out here end up falling off a steep ridge or cliff and getting hurt and have to be taken out by chopper, and a lot of them don't make it. That plus the heat and sun this time of the year takes it's toll as well.
 
Roadtrash said:
It helps a lot to know the terrain that you're hiking. You knowing the mountain and ridges helped you a lot but just goes to show you it can happen. Out here in the desert people get lost all the time and sometime I really don't understand how. With no trees to obscure your view out here if you just climb a hill or ridge it's easy for me anyway to figure out exactly where I am. Every week there are news reports of people getting lost and rescue teams going out to find them. I think most of them are probably not out door people and don't understand the desert and how to find your way out. It seems more people today get lost than there was years ago. If there isn't a real defined trail people panic and wander in all directions and a lot of them out here end up falling off a steep ridge or cliff and getting hurt and have to be taken out by chopper, and a lot of them don't make it. That plus the heat and sun this time of the year takes it's toll as well.
Click to expand...
Wandering around lost was the one thing I was determined to not do.
arjay said:
A warm layer,water,high calorie snacks and a lighter can come in mighty handy [emoji6]
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I know this trail, it's just a short hike up a ridge.
Yeah right.
Water and a Power Bar would've been nice.
jimmyj said:
Another lesson: NEVER hike where there is no paved streets, sidewalks, street lights, sign posts, or convenience stores.
Click to expand...
If I thought that way, we'd havta move from Paw Paw.
Onomea said:
Snubby, for a guy with your nerve condition, you are an inspiration with your hiking. (Heck, for a guy without that nerve condition, you'd be an inspiration...)

Keep it up!
Click to expand...
I've always been one of those very active people. Hiking, backpacking, biking, rollerblading, rock climbing, whatever.
I think having that activity level history is partially what allows me to remain mobile.
 
One of those things with a needle that points N is always sort of handy in the mountains and a map is nice as well. Might find a bunch of neat trails with a good map of the area that you might not otherwise find. You were drifting!
 
You told us what you weren't carrying. This being a gun forum, at least tell us what you WERE carrying in these dangerous woods of Ohio. PS, before I had a GPS, I used to work on the road. Mid day, when shadows were unavailable, I looked for a small home satellite dish to guide me, knowing they point slightly SW around here. Yeah, I know, carry a compass. I always kept pretty good local maps too, from the county courthouses usually. You don't always have to know where you are to get where you're going.
 
Glad you made it out Snubby! If you had been cursed with MY sense of direction(or rather, the lack of a sense of direction!)the search dogs would have been released quite a while ago...
 
Thanks for the report on you hiking troubles, it reminds me of our Philmont Scout Camp trip back in the 90's. Our troop was doing great from getting from Point A to Point B and then it seemed we walked off of the map! It turned out that we had mis-identified some land marks and were a couple of miles from where we thought. Fortunately trail markers and signs for the next camp site were located and we got straightened out.
Then I had the pleasure of turning them around and finding the correct way to the camp site we were suppose to go to. At the end of the trip every boy in the troop developed the skills to use the map and compass plus confidence in doing it.
 
Spending most of my life high in the mountains of Colorado hunting deer and elk, I have wandered around a bit. I have zero, none, nada, no sense of direction. Could not tell you which direction I am facing while typing. This had lead me to some wonderful discoveries. I seldom go where there is a trail. I bushwhack. My feet need to be where no human feet have been before as that is where the elk live. Every once in a while I get to where no white man has been before and find a rusty beer can. I know it is different for those who live in heavily populated areas and places that have abundant vegetation. The few time I have ventured east of the Mississippi, I was astounded by the foliage, and can see the need for trails. But out west there are vast open areas and even in dark timber you can see a good distance. I have been totally confused as to the way back to my truck and have spent hours trying to find it. When darkness falls and the truck is nowhere in sight I do not worry. I think back to the Lewis and Clark expedition. They spent 3 years wandering around without knowing where they were going, and they faired well. This comforts me.
 
That's why I like my "I-Phone."

Siri....take me home.

Of course if I get lost, it's on a hard surface road. I don't know how she'd do in the woods. And my phone does have a compass on it. Again, no idea if it would work away from a signal or not. You can tell I don't get out in the woods much anymore.

Glad you were able to work it out.
 
Our "resident Indian" lost in the woods.

IIRC there are only two directions in W VA. ...................... "up hill" and "down hill"

Clearly the end of civilization as we know it!!!!!!!!!!

:D


While I've never really been lost while wondering the Eastern Continental Divide.........at a young tender age I did learn that "short cuts" generally weren't.........

I learned to stick to the old 18th century Wagon roads,turn of the 20th century logging roads....... even deer trails..........bushwhacking in Penn's Woods..... is generally a bad idea!!!!!!
 
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Happy Ending

These stories are full of cudda-wudda-shuddas. I've learned that the woods look entirely different on the way out than on the way in. As others have said, a GPS and a compass should always accompany you. Have enough supplies to spend one night in the woods. Let someone know where you're going.

As for not leaving evidence of your presence, that should apply to littering. You may leave markers and collect them on the way out. Old white sweat socks cut into rings of about 1" in width work just great.

Sure glad you didn't need a search party.
 
I've run into the results of a lack of funding in our state parks. Tight budgets mean trail maintenance isn't much of a priority.
I've hiking along what should be a well established, mapped and marked trail when it suddenly just disappears. :eek: All I can do is study the map and take my best guess. Sometimes I find it, other times I just have to run into a road or other landmark to tell me how to get where I'm going. :(
 
I wasn't in the boy scouts and I can get lost in a woods in a short amount of time. One big reason I am not an avid hunter. I better have a gps or I am likely not to get back to the car.
 
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