I too have learned the hard way to be prepared for anything. I have returned home as late as 2am because something went wrong and a friend was injured. I was prepared to spend the night, and I had spare equipment to make it possible for us to return to the trailhead safely.
Even on relatively easy or close hikes near Multnomah falls in the gorge, it is easy for something to go wrong in a hurry. The lack of proper/adequate signage in many places REQUIRES you to always have a map and/or some form of navigation knowledge. If you didn't bring a headlamp and it gets dark on you, you are screwed. If you forgot to bring extra batteries, and the ones in your headlamp are old, you are screwed. When the temperature drops 20+ degrees when the sun goes down and all you have on is your yoga pants and tank top, you are screwed.
When you see those "serious" hikers on the flip flopper's trail, it's because they are trying to mitigate risk involved in ANY outdoors scenario, and will most likely be the ones to come to the aid of others in need who were too lazy, irresponsible, or just plain unlucky. I would advise always carrying the 10 essentials, get a pack that can adequately carry what you need and ALWAYS take it all with you on ANY hike you do.
Have you ever accidentally camped?
Re: Have you ever accidentally camped?
"The top...is not the top" - Mile...Mile & a Half
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Re: Have you ever accidentally camped?
I've spent a few unexpected nights out, but it was a long time ago. And I was experienced and they were not hiking trips. They were rock climbing trips (2 in Yosemite and one in the High Sierra) where we either were too slow going up, or got lost on the extended downclimb, and could not get back in time. In all cases, we pulled out our emergency space blankets and shivered the night away and easily found our own way out the next morning. Once we managed to build a fire that lasted part of the night. We were uncomfortable but never worried for our survival. All were long before cell phones or rescue beacons were available.
Re: Have you ever accidentally camped?
To echo what has already been said, I think it's really important to: (1) tell someone exactly where you're going, when you'll be back, and what time to call SAR; and (2) be okay turning around if things get dicey.
As far as what to bring, like people have already said, I tend to carry far more than is necessary: warm and waterproof clothing, a little extra food, extra water or purification, two headlamps and extra batteries... basically, the ten essentials. My only divergences are that I don't always bring sun protection (it's Oregon, and I'm often in the woods), and I almost never bring fire starters (better to be dry, insulated, and in a shelter than running around looking for wood).
I've never accidentally camped, but I've had a few days that ended up being far longer than expected, usually because trails became difficult to follow, and I had to either backtrack or bushwhack.
As far as what to bring, like people have already said, I tend to carry far more than is necessary: warm and waterproof clothing, a little extra food, extra water or purification, two headlamps and extra batteries... basically, the ten essentials. My only divergences are that I don't always bring sun protection (it's Oregon, and I'm often in the woods), and I almost never bring fire starters (better to be dry, insulated, and in a shelter than running around looking for wood).
I've never accidentally camped, but I've had a few days that ended up being far longer than expected, usually because trails became difficult to follow, and I had to either backtrack or bushwhack.
Re: Have you ever accidentally camped?
No, I have never spent the night in the woods due to injury, being lost or running out of light.
When lost, the first thing you should do is check your watch. This may seem strange, but you need to know how much daylight you have left. Lots of daylight gives you time to think about how long ago it was that you were on a trail and try to retrace your footsteps. Less than an hour may mean that you need to think about building a shelter from the wind and cold air and/or getting wood for a campfire. Waiting until its dark means an uncomfortable and cold night.
Once you have realized you are going to be spending a night in the woods, assess your gear. Hopefully extra clothing, food and water are in your pack. Put on your extra clothing before you lose body heat.
Try to rest. A thousand eyes are watching you, but it's your mind that turns rodents into bears and deer into cougars.
In the morning, reassess your position and make educated moves toward finding your way back to the trail. Do not wander around haphazardly and make it more difficult to find you. If you truly have no idea where to go, then finding water is your top priority and building a shelter for the duration is your second priority.
Make a plan, work the plan.
When lost, the first thing you should do is check your watch. This may seem strange, but you need to know how much daylight you have left. Lots of daylight gives you time to think about how long ago it was that you were on a trail and try to retrace your footsteps. Less than an hour may mean that you need to think about building a shelter from the wind and cold air and/or getting wood for a campfire. Waiting until its dark means an uncomfortable and cold night.
Once you have realized you are going to be spending a night in the woods, assess your gear. Hopefully extra clothing, food and water are in your pack. Put on your extra clothing before you lose body heat.
Try to rest. A thousand eyes are watching you, but it's your mind that turns rodents into bears and deer into cougars.
In the morning, reassess your position and make educated moves toward finding your way back to the trail. Do not wander around haphazardly and make it more difficult to find you. If you truly have no idea where to go, then finding water is your top priority and building a shelter for the duration is your second priority.
Make a plan, work the plan.
Re: Have you ever accidentally camped?
Hiking smart and being willing to alter and/or change your plans is crutial, and should be considered the 11th essential.RobFromRedland wrote:This right here is another key piece of advice. We willing to turn around and try again another day. There will always be another chance.sprengers4jc wrote:... and being willing to turn around when something isn't right or something has gone wrong.
Shoot, I didn't make my goal yesterday due to unsafe snow & avalanche conditions (Coldwater Peak northwest side).
Still had a great day, found a great alternate destination, and am safe today because of it.
Re: Have you ever accidentally camped?
I have not been "benighted," but I have come close twice.
Once was on Ruckel Ridge when my companion became overwhelmed by the steepness and exposure.
After cajoling didn't work, I explained that we were in danger of having to spend the night out.
"Empty your pack (which was tiny)," I said. "How are you going keep warm during the night?"
This scared her enough to get her asterisk in gear and we made it down to 1-84 as darkness fell.
It was summer and we would have been OK if we had to sleep out.
A more serious example occurred in the Sierra in late March years ago.
I had gone to Truckee to visit a friend.
He proposed skiing from Sugar Bowl to Squaw Valley, a route he had hiked in summer.
We got a late start- mistake number one.
I relied on his navigation- mistake number two.
We had a long lunch in a Sierra Club cabin, wasting more time- mistake number three.
At sunset, we still hadn't reached a meadow that my friend said was halfway.
I wanted to stay put until morning; he wanted to push on.
We had plenty of warm clothes in our packs, ensolite pads and a stove.
The temp only went down to the 20's, so we would have survived.
When the sun went down, the nice soft snow we had been skiing all day froze.
I was skiing with my flashlight in my mouth and dropped it into a creek.
It was so dark we could not see, and I almost skied off a cliff.
My knees were shaking when I felt the air in front of me open in a huge drop off.
I took off my skis and walked downhill, plunging my heels through the crust.
Then we saw the lights from the ski lifts at Squaw Valley and were able to navigate toward them.
It still took a long time to get to the top of the ski runs- skiing, being cliffed out, backtracking, finding another way.
We reached the base area about 4 AM.
SAR had been activated a half hour earlier, so we called off the search.
This trip reinforced being prepared with the ten essentials, extra food and clothing.
I learned from this trip to carry a headlamp, and to be involved in navigation.
But most importantly, I learned that sometimes the safe thing to do is to spend the night out.
It seems like the main reason not to do so many times is the distress we cause our loved ones if we don't get home when we are expected.
For that reason, I build extra time to bivouac into the itineraries I leave with family and friends.
Once was on Ruckel Ridge when my companion became overwhelmed by the steepness and exposure.
After cajoling didn't work, I explained that we were in danger of having to spend the night out.
"Empty your pack (which was tiny)," I said. "How are you going keep warm during the night?"
This scared her enough to get her asterisk in gear and we made it down to 1-84 as darkness fell.
It was summer and we would have been OK if we had to sleep out.
A more serious example occurred in the Sierra in late March years ago.
I had gone to Truckee to visit a friend.
He proposed skiing from Sugar Bowl to Squaw Valley, a route he had hiked in summer.
We got a late start- mistake number one.
I relied on his navigation- mistake number two.
We had a long lunch in a Sierra Club cabin, wasting more time- mistake number three.
At sunset, we still hadn't reached a meadow that my friend said was halfway.
I wanted to stay put until morning; he wanted to push on.
We had plenty of warm clothes in our packs, ensolite pads and a stove.
The temp only went down to the 20's, so we would have survived.
When the sun went down, the nice soft snow we had been skiing all day froze.
I was skiing with my flashlight in my mouth and dropped it into a creek.
It was so dark we could not see, and I almost skied off a cliff.
My knees were shaking when I felt the air in front of me open in a huge drop off.
I took off my skis and walked downhill, plunging my heels through the crust.
Then we saw the lights from the ski lifts at Squaw Valley and were able to navigate toward them.
It still took a long time to get to the top of the ski runs- skiing, being cliffed out, backtracking, finding another way.
We reached the base area about 4 AM.
SAR had been activated a half hour earlier, so we called off the search.
This trip reinforced being prepared with the ten essentials, extra food and clothing.
I learned from this trip to carry a headlamp, and to be involved in navigation.
But most importantly, I learned that sometimes the safe thing to do is to spend the night out.
It seems like the main reason not to do so many times is the distress we cause our loved ones if we don't get home when we are expected.
For that reason, I build extra time to bivouac into the itineraries I leave with family and friends.
Re: Have you ever accidentally camped?
Though it's never happened to me, as a general rule (though there's always exceptions) I hike to new places when I go with other people and to familiar places when I go solo.
And as much fun as it can be to watch some of the tv survival shows, I always carry a working lighter or two and generally a couple days worth of chocolate.
The whole using sticks for fire and eating grubs just doesn't do it for me...
And as much fun as it can be to watch some of the tv survival shows, I always carry a working lighter or two and generally a couple days worth of chocolate.
The whole using sticks for fire and eating grubs just doesn't do it for me...
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sprengers4jc
- Posts: 1036
- Joined: October 22nd, 2013, 11:35 am
- Location: Vancouver, WA
Re: Have you ever accidentally camped?
jalapeno brings up another great point with his story: relying on others with whom you are hiking for information and/or direction, or continuing when one member of the group feels very uncomfortable or unsure can lead to a situation where accidental camping may be necessary (although it could be lifesaving, in some cases, if one is lost). I always bring my own map and GPS and have studied the topo extensively before setting foot on a trail a friend is familiar with but I am not. And in the avalanche awareness class I took this year, the teachers emphasized the idea that every person has veto power and that has translated to hiking as well for me. If someone is not comfortable with the decision being made by the group, the group will forego that plan. It's that simple. I have been on hikes with a certain friend and when I want to go offtrail sometimes, he will sometimes say he's not comfortable because he doesn't know the area. So we don't do it and I don't try to change his mind. Every person has veto power, and in a survival situation, following someone you are almost certain does not know where he or she is going, or if they are panicking, it might not end well. The mental preparation involved in knowing you are prepared and can remain calm if you had to do an emergency overnight could be as big a part of survival as anything else, I think.
'We travel not to escape life but for life to not escape us.'
-Unknown
-Unknown
Re: Have you ever accidentally camped?
Lots of good advice in this thread.......not including my story below 
One winter I wanted to fire up my backyard gas grill. It was a typical cold, windy, rainy day. I first used the built in sparking starter, which was sparking but wasn't igniting the gas. I then moved onto a Bic lighter, no luck. Did I mention it was cold and windy with some rain? Next up, waterproof matches, nope. Grrrrrrr, went into the garage and retrieved my propane torch. Tried using the sparking thingy that came with the torch to light the torch, but no luck so I went inside and used the gas stove to light the torch. Went outside.....wind blew out the torch grrrrr. Went back inside, lit it again on the stove and used a magazine to shield it from the wind.......carefully stuck it in the hole to light the grill......SUCCESS!
That experience taught me to never rely on my fire starting ability in an emergency scenario. I always bring something to keep us dry enough and warm enough to spend a night if needed.
One winter I wanted to fire up my backyard gas grill. It was a typical cold, windy, rainy day. I first used the built in sparking starter, which was sparking but wasn't igniting the gas. I then moved onto a Bic lighter, no luck. Did I mention it was cold and windy with some rain? Next up, waterproof matches, nope. Grrrrrrr, went into the garage and retrieved my propane torch. Tried using the sparking thingy that came with the torch to light the torch, but no luck so I went inside and used the gas stove to light the torch. Went outside.....wind blew out the torch grrrrr. Went back inside, lit it again on the stove and used a magazine to shield it from the wind.......carefully stuck it in the hole to light the grill......SUCCESS!
That experience taught me to never rely on my fire starting ability in an emergency scenario. I always bring something to keep us dry enough and warm enough to spend a night if needed.
"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
― E.B. White
― E.B. White
Re: Have you ever accidentally camped?
I agree. This thread is very interesting and informative. I don't think that there is one wrong post on this thread. BUT, I will nitpick one part of Aimless' comment about accidents happening to day hikers more than backpackers. Day hikers are imagined to be amateurs/unprepared and backpackers are imagined to be experienced/prepared. I would venture to guess that perception would lead one to believe that mountaineers are the most prepared. Yet there is a book published every year called Accidents in North American Mountaineering. Most of those mountaineering incidents aren't brought up in the media. Most backpacker incidents aren't brought up in the media. And most day hiker incidents aren't brought up in the media.Lurch wrote:This'll be interesting
Whether you're day hiking, backpacking or mountaineering, preparation is number one. And knowing where you're going and letting others know where you're going is part of that preparation. If it's a day hike, my contacts know at what time that evening to contact the proper authorities. If it's a weekend backpack, it's usually Monday morning (since I don't plan on missing work). If it's a six day trip, I tell them to allow for seven since I might alter my itinerary due to trail/weather conditions. Yeah, this could backfire on day one of a six day trip, but that's part of the game we choose to play.
Personally, I agree with texasbb. Hypothermia is the my number one concern since it can be below freezing after an 80* day in the cascades on a clear night. That's why I carry rain gear on those days. If I had to stay the night, I could put on my rain gear, wrap my cheap foil emergency blanket over that and then put the $0.99 poncho over everything and huddle against a big fir tree (it would somewhat protect against possible rain). *note, if you're lost at night and hear a helicopter, shine you're light (flashlight, headlamp or just flic your bic) into a foil emergency blanket. A SAR person on NWHikers says a helicopter crew with night vision can see it with night vision in a forested area.
After hypothermia, I would say that water is next important. But that should already be covered since you have the 10 essentials.
The most common thing that I have given fellow hikers is duct tape. I wrap it around the bic lighter that I carry in a doubled snack bag (similar to a sandwich bag but smaller). I probably don't need the bic lighter since I have waterproof/windproof matches. But it's easier than carrying an entire roll of duct tape.
I appoligize if I got a little long winded. I could have said more but I held off.
