Darkness had fallen. I had lost the trail, and the terrain was unfamiliar, steep and slippery. Should I bivvy up for the night, or risk an injury by carrying on? In this article, I talk about the mistakes that led to me becoming lost and how I got back home.
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Storm damage had closed my usual hill-climb track. I had heard good things about another hill nearby, so decided I would go there instead. After delays at work, I rushed to gear-up and go.
Mistake #1: Rushing and not properly checking my gear
I took my medium webbing setup (article coming soon, I promise!). I assumed that there was a risk I might be out after dark, so I patted the pouch that contained my headlamp, and it bulged reassuringly. I should've opened the zip and visually checked that critical gear was there - I just assumed it was.
Mistake #2: Failing to reset my kit upon return from a previous trip.
What I'd forgotten is that my last walk with that webbing was midday in a party that included an elderly lady. There is a heightened risk of mechanical injury, so I had changed out my headlamp for a compression bandage. I should have reset my kit to its default state as soon as I got back from that walk. I did not.
Mistake #3: Leaving behind my Emergency Beacon (PLB)
I couldn't find my PLB. I figured this was a popular track and probably had mobile phone coverage so a PLB would be overkill. The PLB was somewhere buried in a pile of gear, and I was losing light. Rush! rush! rush! If I have gotten into serious trouble, then the PLB can send a signal to satellites, and they can pinpoint me to within a hundred metres almost anywhere on the planet.
Mistake #4: Not having a good map
The hill I was going to was in a well-known bush reserve so I assumed the tracks would be in good condition and have excellent signage. I was not overly concerned that I did not have a topographic map of the area. I also did not even take the time to download a topo map onto my phone.
Mistake #5: Going onto an unfamiliar trail before dusk
I had plenty of time to get to the summit and back down with a decent safety margin before sun down. That actually would've been true except for two things: I descended on a different trail to the one I ascended. And, I met some awesome people at the summit who I chatted to for too long.
Mistake #4: Assuming a loop track downwards would be as well maintained as the one coming up
This downwards path was much longer, steeper and very slippery. The trail was also less well marked. The main trail I had ascended on was mostly wooden steps, and board walks. I should've gone back down the way I came up.
Mistake #6: Not accounting for my abilities, especially coming downhill
I am slow down hills. I am morbidly obese and need a bit of care moving downhills. I made my calculations using time estimates based on people that can move much quicker. Also, darkness is coming sooner than expected.
Mistake #7: Not realising it gets dark way before sundown in dense bush on the shadowed side of a hill
No problem, I was still within my safety window before sundown. Except that this trail was on the shadowed side on the hill. Although sundown was technically some time away, it was getting darker and darker when I was. Through the trees, I caught glimpses of the sun still illuminating fields out on the plains. At this point, I reached for my headlamp.
No headlamp. Damn. No matter: I have a backup headlamp in my survival kit - except it isn't so bright. So now I am rushing on an unfamiliar and poorly marked trail to beat total darkness with a dim lamp. At some point, I lose the trail.
There's a rush feeling you get when you're lost: Where you think that powering on will get you out of trouble. At some point, I realised that I wasn't rushing to beat the darkness because it was already dark. I had to force myself to pause and take stock of my situation.
Honesty time. I am lost. I do not know where I am. I do not know where the trail is. I do not know which direction to go. I am lost.
Think. No cellphone signal. I can't raise a location ping worth a damn on the GPS/mapper app - I guess because I'm shadowed from the sky down between two ridges or something. Even if I had a GPS ping, I didn't have the topo maps downloaded and no data connection to download them. Time to think through my options.
I mentally visualised the trail map from memory and placed major linear landmarks. If I headed straight downhill, I would eventually come to a vehicle-way or beyond that, a stream. I could then follow either of those back to my car. But, I had no way of knowing what the terrain was like if I headed straight downhill in the darkness. That increased my injury risk.
I could bivvy up for the night. I have the materials and know how to build something survivable given the climate. Still, a bivvy would mean an uncomfortable night.
If I got into trouble from injury or getting too cold in a bivvy, then I didn't have a PLB to summon help. I had sent details of my trip to my brother; he would call for help if I was overdue.
Can I find the trail again and navigate my way out? Another deep breath and some thinking. I'm able to retrace my footprints to the track. That's what it took: clear thinking. That meant being honest about my situation and suppressing the bush-rush.
I walked a longer loop track because there were more intersections on the shorter track and more intersections yield more chances for navigation error in the darkness. I moved slowly to reduce the risk of injury. I was constantly fighting the urge to rush.
I returned to my car two hours over due, but much wiser. I have never forgotten my head lamp again.