When he saw us, Big Fat Gap was only 2 miles from where he stood on Slickrock Creek, but it might as well have been 200 miles. Becoming lost is not always entirely the hiker's doing, of course. The wilderness can make itself bewildering, even for a woodsman on familiar ground. Along with befuddling rhododendron, nature can send dense fog or obscuring snow. It can confront the hiker with perplexing terrain, acres of windthrow, or paths covered up by autumn leaves.
Nature can wash out a trail in an hour.
I frequently had to look up at the opening between trees above the path in order to learn my route, and to feel with my feet the faint path. First, pay attention to where the trail is going and to what you pass on the way. Second, turn around from time to time and look at the trail behind you, because that is the view you'll see on your return. Third, rest before exhaustion saps your ability to think. The proper way to hold a compass is about chest high and a foot away from your body.