A clear head will find itself. If everyone remembered this, there would be fewer reports of persons lost in the mountains and forests.
Merely being out of sight of others in a strange forest
gives many a man the creeps – a natural feeling but a dangerous one. Never
yield to it. In the mountains the grip of panic is too often the grip of death.
“Finding oneself when lost is the test of a man”, says a
veteran who has seen men, women and even children save themselves by sheer
pluck and presence of mind. Loss of mental control is more serious than lack of
food, water, clothing or possible proximity of wild animals. The man who keeps
his head has the best chance to come through in safety.
The following rules are worth remembering –
Stop, sit down and try to figure out where you are. Use your
head, not your legs
If caught by a night, fog or storm, stop at once and make
camp in a sheltered spot. Build a fire in a safe place. Gather plenty of dry
fuel
Don’t wander about. Travel only down hill
If injured, choose a clear spot on a promontory and make a
signal smoke
Don’t yell, don’t run, don’t worry and above all don’t quit
If caught out toward nightfall, the traveller is urged to
find a shelter quickly – a ledge, a larger boulder or a fallen tree –clear a
space of ground and build a fire. If without a blanket, he may build his fire
in a deep hole, cover six inches of hot coals with six inches of earth and
sleep on this. Failing fire, one should use leaves and branches to shelter himself
as best he can. A boy lost on a southern California mountain peak spent three
nights safely in this manner.
Signal fires are the quickest way to attract attention.
Build them in an open spot cleared of all inflammable material so that fire
won’t spread into the forest, (you don’t want to burn yourself up, of course).
In the day time throw green branches and wet wood on the blaze to make smoke.
The eagle eye of the Forest Service fire lookouts or the observers in forest
patrol planes or commercial ships may spot your smoke. But it is difficult for
an observer in a plane to see a lone man in the forest, so the lost person must
use ingenuity, and the signal smoke is the best method of attracting attention.
A word to the new camper, hiker or vacationist –
It is better to carry a clear head on your shoulders than a
big pack on your back. Yet in going alone into the forest it is well to go
prepared to get lost. A fish line and a few hooks, matches in a waterproof box,
a compass, a map, a little concentrated food, and a strong knife carried along
may save a lot of grief. A gun may help as a signal, seldom for game.
A thinking man is never lost for long. He knows that
surviving a night in the forest he may awake to a clear dawn and readily regain
his location. His compass may be useless because of local magnetic attraction
but he may know what kind of vegetation grows on the shady and what on the
sunny side of a ridge. He knows that streams going down and ridges going up do
not branch. He knows that wild food which sustains animals may be eaten
sparingly; that he will not die of hunger as quickly as of thirst; that he must
remain where he is or push on to some definite objective, but not to the point
of exhaustion; that someone will be looking for him, and strength in that
knowledge makes hardships easier.
Keep the old brain in commission and the chances are you
will come out of the woods on your feet.
