Lost And Injured: Change How You Think About Your Next Hike
National Geographic published an article that reminded me that being lost or stranded in the wilderness could happen to anyone. Surprisingly, it happen more often than we may think. NATGEO cited a study published my smokeymountains.com which revealed that thousands of search and rescue(SAR) missions are initiated each year in our National Parks. You don’t have to be in exotic uncharted lands to get lost or ‘misplaced’. Overall, the top reasons people got lost were: wandering off trail, weather, separated from group, injury, darkness and equipment failure. Day Hikers, those who only planned to be out for the day, were the subject of 42% of SAR missions. Read the study for more granular details but the takeaway is that being prepared for the unexpected may save your life.
I’m not trying to be an alarmist or overstate a marginal problem. Fact is, the vast majority of wilderness excursions don’t result an any issues at all. However, we should be aware that the possibility does exist, that accidents do happen and that sometimes people don’t survive these situations. A simple change in how we think and taking some precautionary measures can contribute greatly to survival should we find ourselves in unexpected situations.
Read the full article by Trey Cole on Medium's website here.
May 8, 2022
Medium
Medium is an open platform where over 100 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface.
LIFE OUTDOORS
MEDIA MENTIONS
My only complaint is that eventually, backflushing won’t be enough. These can clog up after some time and no amount of back flushing will fix its low flow. I went through 2 on the AT. However, it will attach to Smart Water Bottles and most bladders!
MEDIA MENTIONS
Built for backcountry reliability and portability, the Sawyer Squeeze filter is our pick for the best portable water purifier.
MEDIA MENTIONS
The Sawyer Squeeze was (by far) the most common Pacific Crest Trail water filter this year – for the fifth year in a row. It’s a $39, 3 oz / 85 g hollow fiber filter that rids your drinking water of protozoa and bacteria (and floaties). It can be used with Sawyer bags (included with the filter) or with compatible water bottles (Smartwater is the bottle of choice for many hikers).
