A pocket GPS is of immense help. It shows your origin position and also allows you to back track your route. I use mine all the time when hunting or going into unfamiliar territory.
Regards, Bob... ---------------------------------------------------- "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Winston Churchill From: "Mark Cassino" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 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....
