All of this is well and good on a dark road, or a college campus or at the customer service desk of a big store, but when your in the backcountry, there is not a help desk or a gas station to ask assistance from. As soon as you become disoriented the decisions you make over the next hour, four hours, eight hours and if necessary twenty-four hours can in some cases make the difference between life and death. The first step in not becoming a statistic is coming to the realization that you are lost. The very second that thought crosses through your head you need to stop. In the first hour the panic that can set in kills.
Panic is a very powerful force.
As your body detects the fear it pumps out tremendous amounts of adrenaline and endorphins into your system. Both of these have a narcotic effect and are responsible for your increased breathing, your body feeling warm and breaking out in a sweat. There are documented cases of people becoming lost in the woods, throwing off all of their gear and even ripping off their clothing as they run panicked through the forest. When night falls, with no gear, no water and no clothing, exposure sets in and kills of the lost hiker. The most frightening thing about being lost in the woods is you will not truly know how you will react until it happens.