What to Do When Lost
Many times when we have to do a recovery for a lost hiker, the subject has panicked and attempted a self-rescue by trying to get “unlost” and ended up encountering a fatal hazard. If they continue to move, they either put themselves at greater risk than if they were to stay in place.
I’ll summarize in three rules and ignore counting Rule 0 (that’s just setting yourself up for success).
Rule 0 - Thou Shalt Always Tell Someone (the first rule of success)
Telling someone (not going on the trip), whether a day-hike or multi-day, is critical to ensure you can be located. When in the backcountry, not deviating from your filed plan of record on your wilderness permit means SAR teams will look primarily for where you should’ve been, and they work their way back to where you could be.
If you’re extra cautious, you should tell someone your planned ETA, and if you do not return by a particular time, inform the local authorities.
Rule 1 - Thou Shall Stay in Place
Stay in place if it is safe to do so. This assumes you didn’t violate the cardinal rule of going somewhere and not telling anyone. Stay near a trail. Most often, hasty teams will be deployed along possible routes of travel, namely trails to locate a sign of travel or, hopefully, the subject as they are meandering around.
This is the rule behind the “Hug-A-Tree” program for children who get lost.
By the time SAR teams arrive on site, it may be 12-24h or longer. If you keep moving, you can easily be missed by teams canvassing an area.
Rule 2 - Thou Shall Avoid Traveling At Night
Don’t travel at night. We have to recover subjects that continued to move at night and go cliffed out (meaning you walk off a cliff). In the dark, it’s harder to see hazards, edges, and other natural terrain hazards. Unless it’s necessary, do not travel in low light.
Rule 3 - Thou Shall Carry More Water Than You Think
Water is life. You can survive not eating for a couple of days, but a lack of proper hydration will kill you. I’ll be honest, if you think carrying too much water is too heavy, then you should focus on conditioning your body to carry the weight. A lack of fitness is not an excuse to put yourself at risk. If I think a hike needs 3 liters of water, I bring 4.5 liters. I always have electrolytes in at least 1 L of water.
