Tell me about a time you were lost in the woods and how

>>943646
I got lost because we were dumb fucks exploring a dried up water tank somewhere in the forest.
Found the trail after two hours because the trees were thick af and we couldnt find it.
Scared the shit outta me desu

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>>943646

Still lost.

Please send help.

Phone about to die.

For the love of god.

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>>943646

This was when I was still in high school. I've tried my best to re-create my route on this map. It was in Missouri, in hilly - not mountainous - and heavily forested country.

I had done this hike many times and I *knew* that at one point there was a fork that went down to a creek. I thought I would be clever and bushwack down to the creek and then meet up with the trail wherever it crossed, heading back up to the main branch after my detour.

Trouble is, I didn't really have any practice bushwacking, and while I had a map, for some reason I'd forgotten my compass, which is a very frustrating combination when the sky is overcast and you think you know where you are on the map, but not with 100% certainty. This detour took me probably an hour in all, but it felt like much longer.

When I left the trail, I went down a hill to my right, following an obvious depression in the terrain. I reached a creek bed, dry at the part I got to, and followed it downstream, where there was some water in pools. For some reason, I decided to go back the way I came, but couldn't remember quite which of the little mini ravines I'd come down from the ridge. I ended up going up the wrong one and got very frustrated when I realized it wasn't only not taking me up to the ridge, but it looked totally different, in terms of terrain. I'd come down a leafy slope, but the slope I'd chosen to go up had thick bushes and was open to the sky in spots.

By then, I was panicking and making rash decisions out of some impulse to just try everything until something worked. There were times when I crossed the same spot, after having thought that I'd been making progress. There were times when I thought about just walking in a straight line until I hit a road, then hitch-hiking back to my car. The rest of my struggle is somewhat of a haze, but I went up and down hills many times. When I finally got back to the trail, I bent down and kissed the dirt. Learned a valuable lesson that day.

>>943686
>I've tried my best to re-create my route on this map.
Actually, on second thought, this is probably not accurate. The topo map shows the major depressions and ravines in the hills, but what it doesn't show is the more subtle depressions from seasonal water flow down the slope which may only be 6-12 feet deep, but are long enough that you notice them. Also, I know I didn't actually walk that far down the creek, but I still passed maybe half a dozen landmark-worthy dry creekbeds and depressions in the hill that indicated water flow. The Ozarks don't have a lot of prominence, but they are a very intricately eroded mountain range. Very easy to go wrong if you are just following the lay of the land.

>i once was lost
>but now im found

How sweet the sound.

I am never lost while OUT, however on the rare occasion I have felt the need to do an unscheduled overnight field test on my survival gear. Things normally look a lot clearer the next day.

Got lost in podunk Alabama going cave exploring in the middle of the night one time, the trail was kind of shite so following it to the cave was kind of annoying but it was even worse on the way back, we strayed a pretty good distance from it and ended up just on the border of the woods, and we could see the street lights in the distance but there was a whole bunch of bramble and really tall and thick grass between us and the road. Kind of a so close yet so far feeling I guess.
Also when we finally got back to our car there was a suspicious truck parked next to it eyeing it.

So, this one time I was lost in the woods, but then eventually, get this, I got out! Crazy, huh?

>>943646
Forest around my place are about 700m in diameter at max and I never went deep into those forest in first place...
But I'm working on it.

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>>943682

Guys?

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>>943646
Ihave never been technically lost in the woods. But about 2 weeks ago iwas about 5 miles out and losing my mind.

I knew i needed to head north so i folowed my shadow. And i had a really fuxking deep conversation with an ex gf i haven't spoken ro in 10 years.

Turns out I'm fucking awesome ands$he was wrong.

>>943646
>hiking northern Wisconsin
>forests T H I C C af
>get lost in wilderness area
>take out compass
>walk off trail and go north towards the direction of the parking lot
>bushwhack through foliage for like 2 miles
>come to dirt road
>walk east for a mile down road
>find my car

Was scard as fuck. Northern Wisconsin is spooky

>me
>was 17 I think
>innawoods
>alone but kind of experienced (~2 years maybe)
>minimal equipment just because
>food, knife, hatchet, saw, cooking pot, metal match, compass, map, basic stuff
>hardcore af boys (is exactly what I thought of myself which is why I went with just this)
>quite far innawoods
>get turned around and lost
>at least -20C
>panic
>getting dark anyway (8 hour daylight in winter) so I just camp out
>natural lean-to, big fire
>next day decide to just head east until I hit a river on my map (I knew I was on the west side and not terribly far)
>no snowshoes b/c dense forest
>takes all day (again, 8 hour daylight = only a few hours of actually moving)
>still not there
>spend another night with basically no shelter at all, just using the wood pile as a wind-screen
>next morning keep going east
>hooray I found it
>now I know I'm somewhere along the river, just follow it south back to the road
>I made it back that day

spoiler: I lived

I learned a lot from this. When I knew I was lost I immediately started panicking like crazy pretty much until the next morning. It was the "I don't care anymore, I just want out" feeling non-stop. After that I was kind of relaxed. Maybe because I was so tired? It just kind of set in that I wasn't as serious as I had originally thought. I learned that the forest isn't big and evil and that I should be much more prepared in case of emergency. After this I still did this minimalist stuff (and still do) but started taking emergency equipment like a really good sleeping bag, tarp, etc.as a backup. Now I take an emergency radio and GPS as well.

I should mention that one of the reasons I was so disinclined to take a sleeping bag in the first place is because money was pretty tight around this time (even though my parents are well educated with respectable careers) for reasons. The only sleeping bag I had was an old one from the 40's or 50's that didn't compress at all and was the size of a big hiking pack by itself.

>>944080
>>takes all day (again, 8 hour daylight = only a few hours of actually moving)
>>still not there
That would freak me out, but I guess you had a compass so even if you were lost, you didn't lose your way.

>It just kind of set in that I wasn't as serious as I had originally thought.
There are so many people on /out/, and in the world in general, who have never had this realization.

>>944073
>Northern Wisconsin
Ehh, next time just camp out til like October or November. Gets much easier to see in the winter months.

>Go for a day hike with my younger brother in the hills in South Australia
>plan route to take one walking trail (mawson trail) north, then along a road and take another one (Heysen) back south to the car
>route is through farmland, bush, and pine plantation
>take road map only
>no compass
>walk goes good for first half but takes a lot longer than planned- by dusk we are only half way
>Still on track, meet up with heysen trail in forest (pines)
>suddenly dark, no moon
>can't see trail markers, lose trail completely
>go with my gut and follow a track i think is in right direction
>track peters out in heavy bush
>brother is cursing and screaming at me, sits down
>eventually goad him onwards and just keep crashing through bush downhill
>eventaully see faint light ahead; farmhouse
>weird blue light too, and a dam
>creep around house to road
>look at map to get bearings
>eventually work out what road we're on
>road connects two sealed roads through a gully
>head to and arrive at one of the roads.
>leaver brother at junction hoping to retrieve the car
>start down the road thinking I'm heading south
>get 5km b4 i realise I dun goof'd
>actually heading north
>at this point give up and call mum to pick us up
>mum arrives, takes me back to my car
>to top it all off, I hit a roo on the way home
>brother still wary of going hiking with me

>>944066
Where are you, senpai? I'll call the local rangers.

>>944080
>spoiler: I lived
Sounds like something the dead would write.

>>944066
I wouldn't worry about it