How To Behave When Lost in the Woods                         

Lions and tigers and bears oh my!

It can happen to even an Eagle Scout: the trail disappears, directions get confused, a sudden turn in the weather forces you away from familiar landmarks. All of a sudden the thin tether between you and civilization has broken. You're not just Getting Away From It All...you're lost.

But take heart: losing your way doesn't have to mean losing your head. Follow the tips in this tutorial to minimize the danger to yourself, and to keep yourself from getting even more lost. You'll notice that the title of this tutorial is not "How To Get Un-Lost" but "How To Behave When Lost in the Woods"--the goal here is not to turn you into a wilderness orientation expert (or a survival expert), but to make it as easy as possible for others to find you safe and sound.

"Be Prepared" is the Boy Scout motto, and if you don't believe in making some kind of preparations you have no business being out in the woods in the first place. Being lost doesn't kill people; it's the doing without (food, clothing, shelter, medical attention) that does them in.

Whether packing for an afternoon picnic or a weeklong trek, observe the Rule of Change: prepare not only for the weather conditions that exist when you start out, but for the weather that weather can turn into. You don't need to take an umbrella when you're hiking Death Valley (unless you want some shade), but you should cram a rainhat in your pack in Yosemite, even the forecast calls for sunshine. You don't need a parka for that day trip, but your clothing should add up to several layers: put them on or peel them off as the temperature dictates.

You should always, always bring matches or a lighter. Put them in your backpack right now--go on, we'll wait--and don't take them out when you clean out your pack (do, however, check to make sure they're still serviceable).

Always bring more water than you expect to drink--and don't drink it just because you have it. If your mouth is parched, you can moisten it with a single mouthful; you don't need to chug down the bottle.

The best way to avoid getting lost is (obviously) to keep to a trail, so resist the temptation to tramp off into the virgin wild unless you know exactly what you're doing. Besides being environmentally unfriendly (it contributes to erosion) and often illegal, straying from the trail is flirting with danger. Just as you can drown in an inch of water, you can get hopelessly lost in five minutes of pathless tromping.

There's just one more inflexible rule: don't leave for the outdoors unless there's someone who'll notice you haven't returned. You don't have to post a formal itinerary at the ranger's office, but at least mention to a friend or family member where you're going and when you expect to be back. For the price of a phone call, you can keep getting lost from becoming a permanent disappearance.

Don't Panic

First of all, get a grip on yourself. Take ten slow, deep breaths (actually count them) if you do feel panicky. It's normal to feel scared, but keep in mind that all you've lost is a bit of information. An unknown patch of forest isn't inherently more dangerous than a known patch. It's just unknown to you.

• Begin by acknowledging that you're lost--or if you're with one or more other people, by gently creating the consensus that you're lost. Some folks tend to deny the situation, right up to the point where they march off a cliff. Don't let macho posturings endanger everyone.
• There are two common reactions you'll want to avoid. One is panic, which usually triggers the flight response in humans. Running wildly around, even for a few minutes, could get you irretrievably lost (if not injured).

The other reaction is overcompensation: deciding that it's time to play Robinson Crusoe of the Redwoods and trying to build a cabin, forage for food, and lay in a cord of wood before nightfall. You may end up spending a night or so in the wild, but conserve your energy. Tired people don't think as well as rested ones, and they require more food and water to keep going.

Assess the situation

Now that you're calm, collected and not in denial, sit down and think things through. How long have you been lost? Mentally trace your thoughts back to the last point where you definitely knew your location. How long ago was that? In what general direction have you been travelling since then?

• If you have a compass: Use it now to give your directional sense some bearings: we came from thataway and that's Northwest, but we started walking South, so the trail must have slowly looped... And so forth. Even if you don't have a compass, try to approximate this kind of location-sense while your memories are fresh.

Now you have some decisions to make.

• If you haven't been lost long and seem to be in relatively safe terrain (not surrounded by rockslides or thorn bushes, for instance), you may decide to retrace your steps.
• If the circumstances suggest that further wandering may be hazardous (night is falling, cliff edges abound), then you may want to stay put and wait for rescue. If so, skip to Step 5

Retrace your steps (if appropriate)

If you've decided to try and undo your error, then hike in the direction from which you came, keeping careful track not only of orientation but of time. If you've been lost for ten minutes but a ten-minute walk doesn't return you to your trail, you're just getting more lost. In such a case, pause and return to your original location, then try again.

• When retracing: Try tracking yourself: you weren't on a trail, so you probably left tracks you can follow in reverse. One handy trick is to frequently look over your shoulder as you're retracing--the idea is to recreate the view you had when you were walking there in the first place. Looking back might refresh your memory of a particular landmark, or help you recognize familiar terrain.
• If you don't have a compass: To be certain you won't stray from your intended direction, line up three landmarks in the direction you want to go, all following a straight line from your line of sight. Then walk in a beeline (i.e., as straight as possible), keeping the landmarks in sight. For a more detailed response, see How To Improvise a Compass 
• Leave a sign: As you go, it's a good idea to leave markers, or a sign, to help potential rescuers locate you. Ways to leave a sign include dragging a heavy stick, propping up sticks or rocks in unnatural ways or making a flag from a stick and some trash or a cloth.

Try to pick up a trail (if appropriate)

Can't find your trail? If you've opted to stay mobile, you might want to pick up any old trail...any path that probably leads to somewhere, if only to a better path. In that case:

• Keep in mind that trails are usually in logical places, i.e. where the land will be more traversable. Search next to creeks or rivers, on or below ridges, and across meadows.
• Holding an eye to your present location, wander around in the immediate area, say 50 yards/meters in all directions. Like looking over your shoulder (see Step 3), the change in perspective may jog your memory. If you're not alone you can range even further: designate one person as the stay-put "anchor", and have the others wander around within earshot. Have the anchor shout out periodically--yelling out the time every minute on the minute is a good idea.

Stay put and signal

If the situation makes retracing and trailfinding difficult, you've got no choice but to hunker down and wait for the rescuers. You job is to 1.) stay in a fixed position and 2.) give them something to fix upon.

• Create a physical signal. If weather permits, seek out a clearing where you'll be visible from the air. If there are sufficient dead branches around, use them to spell out a message: HELP, or SOS, or even just an X. If you need shade or protection from the elements, add a pointing arrow in the direction of your shelter.
• Create a sound signal. Don't shout yourself hoarse proclaiming how you are and the fact that you're lost: just remember Three means Help. The universal distress call is any kind of signal repeated three times at frequent intervals, like three shouts or whistles. So sing out something like "Hey!Hey!Hey!," then rest your throat a minute, then do it again.
• Sing, don't scream. Shout as loud as possible--feel the strain on your throat? Now sing a note, also as loud as possible (don't worry about being in key). You should find that you can sing as loud as you can scream, but without taxing your vocal cords as much. A scream is just a note with a bit of gargle thrown in, and that'll wear you down quickly.
• Build a fire. Even if it's daytime. But prepare the fire site with all the caution you'd use for a regular campsite; you don't want to cope with a raging forest fire as well as being lost. Don't worry about sending smoke signals--the smoke itself is a signal. If possible, gather a good supply of wood before lighting the fire; you don't want it to go out (or spread) when you're off scavenging more wood. See How To Build a Campfire for more details.
• Insulate and wait. If you're committed to sticking around, conserve your energy and your food and water supply. Don't move around more than you have to; wait until your current food supply is almost exhausted before foraging around for more. Bundle up and try to relax--take slow, deep breaths, counting ten breaths at a time; and don't eat or drink just to pass the time.

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