Wonderful account, Mark.. Glad to see you figured it out eventually- though you should know that we were priming Jostein to be the replacement snowflake photographer! I'm just wondering, with the 6x7 gear and the heavyweight tripod, how you reached the "hmm.. I think I'll take the SWAMP TRAIL.." decision!
Cheers, Ryan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Cassino" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 11:49 PM Subject: Lost In the Woods > Yesterday I went out to a fairly small 325 acre nature preserve, to shoot > some scenics with wildflowers. About a mile into the woods, furthest point > in, I consulted an old map that was posted and decided to take the "Swamp > Trail". About a half hour later the trail dwindled down to next to > nothing, and ended in a dry stream bed. I took what I thought was the > continuance of the trail only to find that it was just a little deer path > that petered out a few hundred yards into thick swampy woods. Back at the > dried stream bed, I was unable to relocate the original trail - which I > later discovered was probably also just a little deer trail that I had > stumbled onto. > > So, after about 15 minutes I realized I was hopelessly lost. After half an > hour of wandering around searching for a trail - and almost getting stuck > knee deep in the swamp muck - I finally found a really old marker sign for > the trail. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no evidence of any trail > near it, and I knew I was in trouble. (When I finally got out of the woods > I discovered that the "Swamp Trail" no longer existed. But the really old > map / sign in the heart of the woods was never updated.) > > Fortunately, I did have a compass with me. I ultimately had to just slog my > way in a fixed direction through the woods by compass to get out. I knew > that a river bordered the east side of the preserve and that the main trail > intersected the river, so I just headed due east for about half an hour > until I hit the river, and then hiked along the bank till I hit the main > trail. > > All told, it toke about 2 hours before I was on a trail I knew, and was a > pretty disconcerting experience. If I had not had the compass, I don't > know if I ever would have gotten out - it was amazing (when using the > compass) to see how poor my sense of direction really was - but it was a > cloudy day, no sun or shadows for reference, and all those trees start to > look alike after a while. > > So - I entered the woods at 9 a.m. and finally got back to my car at 3 PM, > having carried my 6x7 gear and heavyweight tripod all the time. One the > plus side - I think I got some good shots! > > I know that Marnie raised the question about emergency gear a while > back. I have now resolved to always bring a compass (which I usually have > done anyhow), to always bring a cell phone (mine was sitting in the car > yesterday), always bring a flashlight (I realized yesterday that the > compass would be pretty useless out in the dark) and always bring a pocket > raincoat (it fortunately did not rain yesterday, but it looked like it was > about to at any time.) > > A Snickers bar and bottle of water would of been handy as well.... > > - MCC > ----- > > Mark Cassino Photography > > Kalamazoo, MI > > http://www.markcassino.com > > ----- > > >
