From: hall@vice.ICO.TEK.COM (Hal Lillywhite)
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
Subject: If You get Lost
Date: 14 Apr 92 20:23:16 GMT
Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or.

A while back I posted an article on how to avoid getting lost.  It
was fairly well received and also generated some additional good
suggestions.  I thought I would post something on what to do if you
do get lost (something I do *not* recommend).  I regard this as more
of a starting point than any sort of definitive "last word" on the
subject and invite others to reply with their comments and ideas.  
Most of this is based on the U.S.A. but I am using a worldwide 
distrubution for two reasons:

1.  I suspect much of the "civilized" world will be similar in many
important respects.

2.  People in other parts of the world may want to contribute to the
discussion and I'm sure many of them have valuable insights to add.


OK, it's happened.  In spite of all your caution (or maybe because of
your lack of caution) you're lost.  You don't know how to get back to
the trailhead or camp.  Now what do you do?

First, do *nothing*.  Sit down, take it easy, try to calm down.
Look at the pretty scenery.  Maybe you'll notice something you
recognize.  (However don't be hasty about "recognizing" landmarks.
Remember you may want to see something familiar so badly that you
don't notice that it isn't really what you want it to be.)  Of course
if the weather is nasty you may need to start seeking shelter.  If 
this is the case try to either find or build shelter quickly and 
close by.  If you are in a group discuss the situation and try to 
keep everybody calm (especially yourself).  Try to keep the group 
together unless there is a *compelling* reason to split up.  And no, 
disagreement over what to do is not a compelling reason to split up.

I think a good procedure outline is:

1.  Protect yourself from immediate danger.

2.  Calm down and see if you can orient yourself.

3.  Stay put except in unusual circumstances.

4.  Provide clues to assist searchers.

5.  Improve your comfort if feasible.

6.  Respond to searchers (answer calls, walk to smokey fires or
    to sounds such as prolonged honking of car horns).


Try to orient yourself:

   It may help to get on a hill or somewhere else with good 
   visibility.  However don't go 2 miles across the countryside 
   to do it.  
   
   Use your compass if you have one.
   
   Refer to a map (again being careful not to see what you want 
   instead of what's really there).  
   
   If you have no compass try to find one of natures direction 
   indicators.  The north star, indicators of prevailing winds 
   such as moss and tree branches (*if* you have had the foresight 
   to to previously notice which way they point).  If the sun is 
   out drive a stick in the ground and mark the location of the
   end of the shadow.  The end of that shadow will move west to east.

If you're real lucky you may "find yourself" and be able to return.  
However, be *certain* you're not fooling yourself before you move.  
(Even if you are certain leave markers for yourself or searchers 
indicating direction of travel and if possible your name and the 
time and date.)

Don't let your embarrassment cloud your judgement.  Don't be afraid
to admit you are lost, either to yourself or to any potential
rescuer.  (I remember searching for one teenage couple which we found
when the girl heard us and attracted our attention by yelling.  Her 
boyfriend told her to be quiet, he would find the way back!  This 
after an unexpected night in the woods.)  Humble pie may not suit 
your taste but it's a *lot* better than the likely alternative.  
Nearly everybody has been "temporarily misoriented" a least once so 
don't feel too badly about it (but *do* let it motivate you to be 
more careful next time).  Search and rescue personnel will try not 
to embarass you when they find you.


Helping Searchers

Unless you are in immediate danger the most important thing you can
do is help the searchers.  You cannot help leaving clues and SAR
personnel look on the lost person as a clue generator.  However you
can make the clues much more obvious and effective if you just give
the matter a little thought and creativity.  Remember there is only
one of you and you are only in one place.  However you can leave an
unlimited number of clues in many places.  The search team may
happen to miss the particular tree you are under but if you have 
placed obvious clues in the surounding area they will almost
certainly find some of them.  If these clues point to your location
the next step is easy, you get rescued quickly and the searchers get
to go home to their families, a hot shower and a good meal.

Obviously yelling and blowing a whistle provide excellent clues when
searchers are within earshot.  Try to make your sounds distinctive:
yell "help," blow whistle blasts in groups of three etc.  Searchers
routinely yell and whistle to attract your attention, you don't want
to be mistaken for another searcher.

The best clues provide positive identification of who you are and
how to find you.  Ideally you can put notes in obvious places with
your name, date, and direction from the note location to you.  Try
to put something obvious near the notes:  rocks spelling "help" or
"SOS," stomp messages in the snow, use large sun-bleached tree 
branches to spell out your message etc.  Try to make these markers 
visible from both air and ground.  Put them on 2 or 3 sides of a hill,
visible from different directions.  If weather makes it impractical
for you to stay in open country or on top of a hill at, least put
clues  there.  Then try to also leave something to indicate where 
you are from the clues.  You can leave notes, scratch arrows into the
ground or snow, or use sticks to make such arrows.  Even if you
decide to try to walk out (usually not recommended, see below) leave
such clues indicating which way you went.

Don't think you need a pencil and paper to leave a note.  Such
inventions came *long* after the invention of writing.  You can
write with mud on a rock, with a stick in the dirt, carve messages
into large sticks with a knife or scratch them with a pointed rock.
The lead tip of a bullet can write on rocks or paper, but contrast
is low, do something to call attention to it.  Be creative.  Unless
you are on water you can almost certainly find a way to write a
note.

One of the best clues is a fire, smokey in the daytime and bright at
night.  If you can safely build a fire, do so.  However be very
careful with it, if it gets out of hand you may be the first victim.
The smoke by day or light by night can be seen a long way and bring
rescuers quickly.  It is also a great comfort to you and in cold
weather can be a lifesaver.  Determine how much fuel is available
and govern your fire accordingly.  If fuel is limited it is wise to
keep some green branches and dry wood in reserve for when you think
searchers are in the area.


Stay Put

Usually you should stay put.  You will likely want to move a couple 
of hundred meters anyway to a more comfortable or visible position.  
In general however it is a good idea to stay pretty much where you 
are.  I think there are only three good reasons for a lost person 
to try to get out instead of staying put:

1.  There is almost no chance of timely rescue.  You are not expected 
back for a week, or you were real dumb and nobody has the slightest 
idea where you are.  (Even if nobody knows where you are if you have
a vehicle at the trailhead that will provide a starting point for a
search.)

2.  You are confident that even though you are lost you can make it
to some form of civilization in a reasonable time.  Maybe you know
there is a road to the west and you can reach it in a few hours.
Even if it's not the road where your car is, someone will eventually
come along. *Be careful*.  What's between you and that road?
Cliffs?  An uncrossable river?  Thick underbrush?  Terrain features
not obvious on a map may significantly slow or even totally stop
your progress.  If this happens you will have expended a lot of
valuable energy removing yourself from the area most likely to be
searched.

3.  You are in immediate danger.  Again don't be hasty.  Probability
of discomfort does not constitute danger.  You can survive a lot of
cold, hunger and wetness.  As a rule of thumb a person can survive
in the wilderness about 3 times as long as expected.  However, if
you're wearing only a T-shirt and the temperature will drop below
freezing you may want to consider moving *if* you have some idea of
which way to go.  (And warm yourself with blue smoke for being so
unprepared.)  If you are in an avalanche zone get out of it.
However, there are few real solid dangers which would require you to
move more than 100-200 meters.

As I write this paragraph, the Wasco County, Oregon Sheriff's
Department has just suspended the search for a 17 year old elk
hunter who apparently did not stay put when he got lost.  The area
where he was last seen and surrounding vicinity has been searched
several times without even finding a solid clue.  Of course we can't
know for sure what happened but the most reasonable guess is that he
walked out of the area in some unknown direction.  There is some
indication he may have built fires and/or shelters in the area but
did not stay with them.  Had he stayed he would almost certainly
have been found by now.  As it is, if he isn't dead he probably will 
be soon.  I expect that in a year or so another hunter will happen
upon the remains.

If you do decide to move, mark your trail *well*.  It will help the
searchers or you may want to return.  Leave as much information as
you can.  If you have a pencil and paper, leave notes in obvious
places.  On each note leave your name, time, date, direction of
travel etc.  In other words, follow all the clue leaving suggestions
above.  This is even more important if you move since you are now a
moving target for the searchers.  Furthermore you may find
unexpected difficulty and have to backtrack.  Make it easy
to do so.

Be careful if you move.  You are in enough trouble already, you
don't need to fall over an unexpected drop-off or get your clothes
wet in a creek.  It may be especially tempting to travel at night
when the temperature is lowest but that is also the most dangerous
time, hazards are less obvious.  Of course the tendency of a lost
person to travel in a circle is well known.  Avoid this by picking
out landmarks ahead and traveling toward them (or by using your
compass).

Again, be *very* reluctant to travel.  Almost always (at least in
areas like the 48 contiguous states) a lost person is better off to
stay put and wait to be found.


Improve your Situation

So if you stay put, what should you do?  The biggest enemy is
probably boredom.  Sitting around waiting to be found can be
*devilishly* hard.  Minutes seem like hours and hours never end.  
You probably get cold, hungry, thirsty and you tend to wonder if 
maybe you should try to walk out after all.  Combat it by doing 
something but try not to waste energy.  Again the best use of your 
time is probably deliberate clue generation as above.  After you do 
that (or maybe even before if weather demands it) you will want to 
improve your situation.  Both activities will give you a psycho-
logical reason to stay put as well as increasing your comfort and 
chances of being found.

I want to emphasize the importance of building shelters and placing
clues.  Aside from their benefit in protection and possible aid to
searchers, they give you an investment in staying put.  Without such
an investment and the psychological help it gives you will find it
*very* difficult to resist the urge to try to walk out.  Your
emotions tend to overwhelm all the knowledge you have about why you
should stay put.  Placing clues, building a shelter etc. help give
you an attachment to the place where you are, thus somewhat
counteracting the urge to try to find your own way out.  The urge
will still be there, mind you, but it will be easier to resist.

One real question is where to set up your temporary home?  You will
be easier to find if you are in the open, on top of a hill etc.
However the same places also expose you to the weather.  You will
have to decide based on the weather, your equipment and clothing,
etc.  Again, if you decide to move into a less exposed area try to 
put a marker in an exposed place with an indication of where you are.

Try to improve your situation.  Find a protected place to sleep and
see if you can make it more comfortable.  Most jurisdictions permit
cutting of vegetation to make shelter in emergencies.  Do the best
you can with the materials and tools available.  Again, creativity
helps, bark or roots can be used as string, natural features provide
the start of shelters, etc.  Of course the protection you make from 
the elements may also protect you from the eyes of searchers, 
compensate by *clearly* indicating where your shelter is.  Make the 
shelter as obvious as you can, searchers routinely check inside any 
shelter they come across.

Ration your food and water.  The object is to survive until help
arrives, not eat or drink till you are satisfied.  If water is
plentiful and you have a way to purify it, go ahead and drink.  If
you have no way to purify it you may be better off thirsty for a
couple of days.  Exception:  If you are getting cold, you should
avoid dehydration.  In this case you will have weigh the risk of
disease against the risk of hypothermia.  Neither is trivial,
especially since most water-borne illness also tends to cause
dehydration and otherwise interfere with metabolism.  

Clean snow is likely to be relatively free of disease-causing 
microbes.  However be very careful about eating it.  The latent heat 
of melting will require a tremendous energy expenditure on your part.  
Either it will make you cold or it will cost valuable calories.  If 
you have a means of melting it, go ahead and then drink the water.  
If you are overheated you may eat a little snow (but overheat is 
usually caused by overexertion, avoid that at all costs).  Ration 
*all* calories, both from food and the energy stored in your body.  
That means don't waste work harder than is necessary.  Except for 
providing necessities this is a good time to be lazy.

Food may seem like an urgent necessity but in reality most people
can go for days without eating and suffer no long term damage.
Aside from rationing you may or may not be able to safely supplement
your supplies.  Be very careful in choosing what to eat.  Hunger is a 
lot better than potential poisoning or disease.  If in doubt, don't
eat it.  Meat may be the easiest safe food to obtain *if* you can cook 
it and aren't too persnickety.  For example grubs will provide a lot 
of energy (ask any bear).  Fry 'em up and they will fill your need 
for fats.  I haven't tried it personally but someone who did assures 
me they don't taste too bad either.  Porcupines are easy to catch, 
with our tool using ability we can beat them to death with a long 
stick, thereby avoiding the quills.  Many insects are edible if not 
appetizing and they are available almost everywhere.  Of course 
cooking kills microbes and reduces the risk of disease from any of 
these critters.

Remember, avoid anything which might spread disease, you really don't 
need to get sick on top of everything else.  Water is definitely 
higher on the priority list than is food.  If you can obtain safe
water you will be a lot more comfortable and able to survive longer.

I'm not going to go into much here about long term survival.  This
is not the place for it even if I were qualified.  If you do learn
about this subject it will be to your advantage.  Even if you
don't you have an excellent chance of being rescued in good shape if
you get lost.  Use your head and follow a few basic principles.  It
probably will not be pleasant.  However if you act reasonably
prudently you will almost certainly be found safe and in good shape.


Appendix:  How Search Teams Work

First, be aware that searches do not start the minute you get lost.
In all likelyhood you will be lost for quite some time before anyone
starts looking for you.  Try to be patient.  Nobody is going to come 
looking for you until you are reported overdue.  Even then usually
the sheriff will send a deputy to check things out before starting a
search.  Is your car really still at the trailhead?  Are you in the
latrine or a nearby bar?  

Only after the deputy is satisfied there is a need will SAR personnel 
be called out.  Then since most of them are volunteers it usually 
takes hours for the search to actually start.  People have to leave 
their jobs or families, pack the necessities, and drive to the staging 
area.  Then depending on circumstances it may take more hours to reach 
the actual backcountry area where they are to search.  The search may 
also be delayed by the necessity to plan and organize activities.  It 
makes little sense to just send people out "thataway" without coordin-
ation and intelligent direction.

It may help place your clues if you know how a typical search and
rescue operation proceeds.  Usually the first searchers into an area
are "hasty teams," small teams lightly equipped and assigned to
search the areas of highest probability.  They check known shelters,
areas near where you were last seen, open areas where you might go
to try to be seen, etc.  This is a reason to not move far, you will
be leaving the areas likely to be searched first.  Try to place some
of your clues in these obvious areas and you will likely be found
faster.  Searchers usually carry binoculars so clues on open hillsides
are also quite effective.  Hasty teams typically have very limited
manpower so they can search only the most likely spots.  Try to put
something there to help them.

Hasty teams and other ground searchers also typically try to make a
lot of noise.  If you hear them of course you should respond.  They
will yell, blow whistles etc.  Usually if they can hear you it is
better to keep talking, yelling, etc. and let them come to you
rather than trying to go to them.  If you have a whistle (which is
highly recommended) blow three blasts at a time since 3 of anything
is the universal distress symbol.  This will help searchers
distinguish your whistle from those of other searchers.  Of course 3
shots from a firearm also works if you have the ammunition.  Please
be careful where you shoot, rescuers don't appreciate being shot at.
Shoot into the ground away from rocks, not into the air where you
don't know what the bullet will hit on the way down.

Depending on weather and availability, air searchers may also arrive
quickly.  Obviously they can search open areas more effectively than
dense woods and brush.  Try to stay in the open and have clues
visible from the air.

Other searchers likely to arrive fairly soon are dog teams and
trackers.  Again the early stages of a search will be confined to
the areas of highest probablilty.  These people will be looking for
clues in places like "track traps," areas you may have been which
show tracks easily or where a dog can pick up a scent.  

The idea of early stages of a search is to find clues.  Of course
searchers will be happy to find you (refered to as "the ultimate
clue") but they know there are more clues than lost people.
Typically they find clues in some places and not others and then
move personnel to the areas where the clues indicate you are likely
to be.  Most searches end fairly soon after the early stages because
the clues reduce the area and often point quickly to the actual lost
person.  Actually a lot of searches resemble a binary search in a
data base.  The area is divided into sub areas and each is checked
for clues.  Areas without clues are tentatively eliminated and
efforts concentrated on those areas where clues indicated highest
probability for you to be.  With a bit of luck this finds you fairly
quickly.

Another early search technique usually used is confinement.  People
will simply wait at natural boundaries such as passes.  The idea is
to intercept you if you are about to wander out of the area.  Your
part in this is that you should *never* cross roads.  The first 
assumption is that you will wait there so the search is confined to 
the prime area until it is rather certain you are not there.  
Vehicle searchers usually patrol the roads and will probably find
you quickly if you just sit tight.

A common method is the use of attractors.  An attractor is anything 
the subject is likely to see or hear and be attracted to.  Common 
attractors include the aforementioned whistles and yelling by
search teams.  A typical use would consist of two blasts on a whistle 
after which the searcher waits a few seconds to listen for a response.  
These are moving attractors so the best response is to yell or whistle 
back to get searchers attention, then wait for them to come to you.  
Other attractors are fires (bright at night, smokey during daylight), 
car horns, sirens etc.  You may have to walk to them since they can
get your attention from so far away that the people can't hear your
response.

Later stages of a search may involve "grid searching," lines of
people spaced 100-300 meters apart (open grid) or closer (closed
grid).  If you leave appropriate clues the search should never reach
this stage.  This is manpower intensive, slow, and often reserved
for when we think we are looking for a body or severly incapacitated
subject.  Try to leave enough clues to be found without this
technique, and certainly enough that closed grid searching is not
necessary.