The major cause of people getting lost in the wilderness is being over confident about their sense of direction. Our sense of direction is quite poor compared to birds and animals, it’s also far more important for us not to get lost, as we are not the superior ones when it comes to true wilderness survival, they are.
Most people who have spent time in wilderness areas have at some time been temporarily lost. No one is immune from getting lost. Fog or a few inches of snow can dramatically change our view of familiar landmarks and cause a person to be in an uncomfortable situation or lost.
When traveling in wilderness areas we need to develop a “feel” for that land, a sort of mental map. We all do this in our home area; we know which streets to take without a map or street names to arrive at our destination. There is no better way to avoid getting lost than knowing the wilderness area like we know the area where we live, and the big difference being that usually there is no one to ask for directions in the wilderness.
When we step into unfamiliar wilderness areas we need navigational aids to back up our sense of direction and our mental notes of various landmarks. A compass and other aids like the popular and now inexpensive GPS unit are needed, and of course a “topo” map of the area.
All survival techniques, and not getting is definitely a survival technique, should be learned in familiar surroundings. It’s a little bit late to figure out how to read a “topo” map and use a compass or GPS when lost in a snow storm and five miles from your vehicle. Understand the three “north’s”, how to do a resection with a compass and how to use a handrail or aiming off when using a compass are a few examples that are essential.
Remember that local magnetic anomalies, electrical sources that cause a magnetic field, and ant ferrous metal items may affect a compass. GPS receivers fail and batteries go dead and in locations especially under heavy vegetation they may not be able to “see” enough satellites to get a fix. Never rely on one single piece of equipment.
On any extended trip in unfamiliar territory one should take special note of their starting point and a compass bearing of their direction of travel, because if we don’t know our starting location or our original direction of travel we can’t use a GPS reading or a “back bearing” effectively to return to our point of departure if necessary.
Terrain is the biggest obstacle in British Columbia wilderness travel. Knowing your starting and the direction you need to travel is often not enough when lost, as straight-line travel is usually not possible or desirable in rough terrain. What is needed is a way back to the trail you lost or a trail that heads in the general direction you need to go. Even a game trail will make travel much easier and faster and far outweighs the possibility of meeting unfriendly game.