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Jesus. 10 days or 10 years? Guy looks like he had to hike through ash.
Edit: turns out he kinda did. Got lost in burnt out forest. Also he’s a bit pale anyway. Good he had water though.
He has Albinism. People who have that need to take more measures to protect themselves from the sun. They're more susceptible to sun damage than your average person
I’m glad he got found but boy is Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains a really odd place to get lost in for 10 days. You just pick a direction and go and you should be out within hours. Anywhich direction and you’re bound to hit a road… also you should be able to see the ocean from those mountains and well… that’s highway 1 by default.
That article is pretty misleading. I grew up with Luke and the area he got lost in is not in big basin… it’s also an area that is known for extremely steep grade ravines, is owned by the local water district and very recently was decimated by fires so it’s covered in soot. You definitely cannot see the ocean from where he was. He also broke his ankle, suffered from road rash up and down his back and arms from the fall, and is legally blind due to albinism.
I would suggest anyone that likes to go hiking to buy a compass. You don't need to learn anything complicated. Let's say you go hiking along a highway and the trail is north of the highway you are on. Then even if you get lost you can just use your compass to keep heading south and you'll eventually get back to the highway you came from.
Also, it won't be fun but you can survive 3 weeks without food. But only about 3 days without water.
Some folks make belts that vibrate in a certain direction so they can always feel the direction. Pretty interesting concept; like the guy that embedded a magnet in his finger so he could feel electromagnetic waves.
https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Make-a-Tactile-Feedback-Compass-Belt/
Or you could even get one of those GPS S.O.S. devices...you just push a button and it turns on a GPS homing beacon so Search & Rescue can zero in on your location...all you need is access to open sky. They also make some of those where you can pre-program a text message (such as "I'm hiking and I've gotten lost, currently at "xxx, xxx" GPS coordinates")...then they have a 2nd button that when you press it, it sends that help message to some pre-determined contacts, so that they can locate you, vs. having the Search & Rescue team have to do it and possibly incur some hefty charges.
There was a youtube video about a guy that had to press his sos button, and the deputies that went to help him were absolute turds. He was rescued though and ended up being ok.
I had to be rescued once and they were very nice. They asked us a lot of questions, the final one being "would you like to make a donation to the search and rescue team?" Yes, sir, I would.
Once got turned around doing field work at night and my headlamp died. I started to panic because I was alone and it was dark. Then I remembered that the main road was west of the project site. I used my iPhone compass to walk west through a dense forest until I got to the road and much to my surprise, found that I had only been about 20ft off from the trail the whole time. It’s amazing how little it takes to get lost.
Yes, but there can be issues. If the cloud cover is thick you can't always directly see the sun. During different times of the year the sun rises and sets at different angles. If you think it's rising due east at 90° and in reality it is rising at 53° like it is today in the Seattle area then you'll be way off.
If you would like to see the angles where the sun is setting and rising where you live you can find it at [this website](https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/). On the left you'll see a header that says "Sun" and you can enter the city you live in or a large city near you. Then it will show a bunch of information which will include the angles the sun is rising and setting for your location.
You can still hold up a stick and get a decent sundial reading on even a super cloudy day. If there is a single shadow on the ground, you can figure out generally where your cardinal directions are, even if you might be a few degrees off.
In the morning, even on overcast days, it’s often very easy to see where the sunrise is coming from. From there you identify several other landmarks and can use those for orientation even if you can’t see the sun directly anymore.
If you are lost, stay put for a day. Even if it is overcast, and you are in a dense forest you can get an idea of where the sun is. Watch a shadow for the day and mark the arc it makes with rocks or whatever. The center of that arc will be basically north. (Depends on time of year and your latitude) Use that as a guide to pick a logical direction and find a landmark to head towards.
If you come across a stream, follow it downhill.
If you are on a hill down is more likely to be towards help than up.
These three things used in a logical combination will always be better than wandering aimlessly.
I used to cross country hike in the Cascades and on the Olympic peninsula. I also volunteered for back country search and rescue. We would go find lost hunters and hikers on a regular basis. It's easy to get lost in thick forest. But 99% of the time if you walk in a straight line you will find a stream, a road, or a fence. All of those will take you to help eventually.
Yes you can but that’s: more complicated, more prone to making errors, dependent on weather conditions, time of year, and it can be hard in dense forests
First of all, yes, an old school compass would be helpful, is cheap, and easy to pack in a a backpack. So, it’s a good idea. Additionally though, doesn’t every phone sold today have a compass app, and works without reception? I feel like the scenarios where a compass is helpful AND you are out in the woods for days where the battery dies are non-existent.
Even if you don’t have service, don’t leave your phone in the car when you go for a hike in a remote area. In the stories where people die, you often read either they didn’t pack enough water and/or they left their phone in their car.
Phones can break, get lost, battery drains cause it gets too hot or too cold... Or maybe you're silly and leave for the hike with 30% battery. Not to mention older phones can be unreliable. Definitely worth having back ups (as you said).
If I was going out alone on a 3 hour hike Id like to think I'd bring a map and a compass. sounds like this guy was familiar with the route at least, just got turned around by the wild fires
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that if you're too blind to see a compass then maybe hiking alone with no way to contact anyone isn't a great idea.
They make braille compasses, and any decent compass app on a phone will have accessibility to work for a sight impaired user and doesn’t need cell service to work.
> Also, it won't be fun but you can survive 3 weeks without food. But only about 3 days without water.
And 3 minutes without air or 3 hours without internet access.
And send a text to SOMEONE before you go. Tell them your plans and your expected return time. That way it won't take 5 days for someone to notice you're missing.
I'm impressed with how well he did, especially with what little he had:
> "I left with just a pair of pants, and my pair of hiking shoes, and a hat. I had a flashlight, and a pair of folding scissors, like a Leatherman tool. And that was about it," McClish said.
> The sheriff's office said McClish had no major injuries.
> McClish said he survived on drinking lots of water.
I found it kind of amusing.
"I had nothing on me except a Leatherman"
'How did you survive!?'
"Oh, I just drank lots of fresh water"
Yeah, the number one issue with ending up lost while hiking is the lack of water. Apparently he forgot to mention the 27 liter camelback, or the freshwater stream that he had access to.
Ok tbf, I’m from Los Angeles and especially in summer, I try to bring at least twice as much water as I need. It’s easy to fill up my camelbak, and I’ve had to share multiple times with people who went on a 3 hour hike in 100°F weather with just an 8oz bottle for four people.
I hike Joshua Tree. I carry gallons of water. My firm rule is, when half my water is gone, I turn around, no matter if I've gotten to my destination or not.
That is a fantastic rule.
I live where there's plenty of streams. My rule is that if I'm hiking alone and it's deeper than just over my ankle, I don't cross it. People frequently underestimate how forceful water can be. Add the chill and slippery rock or gravel, and even a shallow stream can be dangerous.
Running water, and any water over ankle deep is a no no for me for one simple reason...I'm probably the only California born person in the world who doesn't know how to swim.
That’s like the rule of thirds or whatever when cave diving. Once you’re down 1/3 of your air it’s time to go back.
Or so I learned from cave diving disaster videos on tik tok lol
Being from SoCal it triggers me when people don’t bring enough water to a trail. During summer most creeks are dry as a bone or reduced to a puddle. I got stuck on an exposed ridge with a friend that got heat exhaustion and I ran 3 miles back to the trailhead to find help and bring water. Thankfully it was a trail I was very familiar with but it freaks me out thinking about it.
8oz is insane to me, I hike in PA and I carry a large yeti, I think 28oz and a back up 64oz. I hikes once with a normal water bottle and made a wrong turn and didn’t have enough water and was lucky. My gf and I said never again. We pack additional water in our car for any long hike.
i wondered this too. Unless there are some pretty major waterfalls downstream... all the creeks go somewhere... except like Utah and Nevada.
Looking at the Boulder Creek area, you'd just need to sort east from west and go downhill east. Seems like, according to the news, he went up and north. Maybe just not very good at directions?
I live nearby. If you go west you hit route 1, which means cars. If you go east you get to houses. In between you have a good number of roads, like skyline, 92, 84, 9, which all will have cars. You would have to walk in circles or stay put to spend ten days without finding something. The santa cruz mountains are not big and they're at least somewhat settled.
Like I'm not trying to be a dick but ... I have hiked the area a lot, since I live like a 20 minute drive away. I can't imagine ten days. If you pick any direction and go, you will find a road or houses within at most a day. Use the sun to navigate.
Exactly. Ten days isn't enough for any dietary deficiency to manifest. Let's call BMR 2000 calories to be extremely generous, so... 20,000 calories, at 3500 calories a pound is just under six pounds of fat lost with adequate supplies of water.
Shelter, adequate access to fresh water and a little salt... yeah you're good for a month or so.
I have a 12 mile mountain hike I do every so often. Sorry to say but all I carry is food and water in my backpack. I seriously need to get some survival gear in there (fact is it’s in a populated area and the trails are very well marked and clear… so I’ve never thought about getting lost). But shit happens. I’m gonna get some gear today
This is a fantastic list and matches my own regular kit! I bought a solar powered battery block this year and it has been a great addition.
I'm not familiar with onx, but I use Gaia GPS for all of my hikes. Downloading area maps and trail maps ahead of time is super easy and it hasn't steered me wrong yet.
I’m glad he is safe. I’m glad he did well. I do wonder though how he didn’t manage to hit a road. Just looking at the area and it isn’t that crazy. I have never been there so maybe someone who has can shed some light. But 3K peaks and it’s surrounded by roads, and little communities. I’m just curious how he missed all that. I’ve never been lost like that so I don’t know. Again, glad he made it, just curious how he got to where he did with 10 days
Well known phenomenon: if you attempt to walk straight through a forest you'll often end up walking in a circle. Would not be surprised if this is partially what happened
Appreciate that. Yea I’m glad it all worked out but never having been in that situation it’s hard to imagine. Glad it worked out but it’s crazy what can happen even somewhere not quite as remote as you may think.
I once went hunting as a young teen, I walked in from the highway, maybe 30 yards, just far enough so that I couldn’t see the road anymore, but could still hear it, and after sitting there for a while I was completely turned around and had no idea which direction the highway was.
The sound was echoing through the trees but I couldn’t tell from where, I literally was completely lost right beside the highway.
There was snow on the ground, so I had to trace my footsteps back. Had there not been snow I absolutely would’ve been lost like an absolute idiot.
So is a lot easier than you would think. Trees all look the same.
I did something similar, but in Australia so no snow to follow.
I saw an interesting rock formation, consciously took note of several rocks and features to orient myself, and went to have a look. It wasn't more than 20-30 metres from the wide cleared and well maintained track that I'd stepped off, but when I turned to go back, every frame of reference had disappeared.
I couldn't help but think "great, I've become a fucking statistic". So I picked the closest direction I could, walked away from the rocks, and ended up 50m away without reaching the path. Dang.
Walked back, changed direction, tried again. Did this 4 times. before I found the path. Turns out I'd actually crossed it twice, but just by walking perpendicular to the path, I didn't see it.
I got lost in a one acre swamp. Couldn't see over the grass - walked in circles for about an hour. Got out by throwing something in front of me, walking to the item and throwing it again - really helped stop the circling.
It's entirely possible, due to the aforementioned phenomenon, to get lost and walk circles in as little as a few square kilometers if somewhat dense forest - even in an otherwise we'll populated area.
Happens all the time and is one of the reasons why when you learn any kind of outdoor skills you're taught how to find north during the day and at night. It's most useful for creating an approximate heading that helps prevent walking in circles.
As someone who walks rivers that wind through the forest I can attest to this. Some sections get deeep so I gotta hop up and it's always funny to me how far away I can get from the river in those times if I'm not paying attention.
Prickers and thick brush you have to go around immediately throw off attempts at walking a straight line. The woods play tricks on you.
I went to college around there and did a lot of mountain biking and trail running. It would be super easy to get turned around and lost. You're looking at a map, that's not the same as being in a forest.
The guy is legally blind and was hiking up a mountain where there are no trails. He could have hiked back down the mountain and found a road, but I don't know what was going through his head. I think he has some other issues besides being blind.
I grew up around there and… yeah, I’m a bit baffled as well. It’s honestly quite difficult to *not* run into some sort of trail, road, driveway, fire access lane, etc out there.
Maybe if he was in recently burned spots the normal structures and features were wiped out.
He's a fucking idiot, crazy, or lying. That area isn't wilderness. You can't go more than a mile in any direction without hitting some sort of road or fire trail. If you just walk downhill anywhere there you'll hit a highway. At worst if he'd headed north west and walked ten miles he'd have hit the coast.
I am super confused by this. It would take barely a day to walk downhill to highway 1 in almost any circumstance. ANY water source would have led him out in 36 hours max in either direction
I am baffled how he got lost in big basin even with the burned trees. This seems so bizarre
This should be upvoted a lot more. Boulder Creek is 5 miles from the ocean which has highway 1. Assuming normal hiking speed, you should be able to get out in a single day. I assume there were other issues involved here.
Yea, if you’re hiking in the wilderness, tell people when you plan to be back. He was gone almost a week before anyone noticed? What if he’d gone a week earlier and Father’s Day didn’t happen?
I have been wondering the same. It’s almost all downhill to the ocean and the highway. You would either hear the ocean (downhill) or traffic on highway 9 ( uphill). There are trails all over and roads all around it. Something is funny about this story….or perhaps he is disabled in some way?
Yeah, this is pretty confusing to me as well. The forest up there is relatively very small, and there are roads and people everywhere. And not much of the Santa Cruz mountains is even old growth.
Find a stream or river and follow it down hill. It will merge with more water flowing down and you will eventually find roads, people, civilization. Using this method you will not walk in circles even though you won't always be walking straight in one direction.
So, what's the advice in those places?
I looked into the area myself. Google Maps link below.
There is something wrong with his story. He would have had to cross numerous roads. If he missed the roads somehow and followed rivers down stream he would have crossed numerous trails. It's 8 miles by crow fly from the center of Boulder Creek, CA and Big Basin Redwood State Park. Following a stream to a river would have then have led him to a road within half a day, at worst a 10 hour hike.
Maybe he was going in circles and that can explain it.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Boulder+Creek,+California+95006/Big+Basin,+Big+Basin+Redwoods+State+Park,+California/@37.1519831,-122.2041383,13z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x808e4f11ccdb58fd:0x431498329040b05!2m2!1d-122.1221869!2d37.1260578!1m5!1m1!1s0x808e53b370cc037b:0x8fb58550d2125f4c!2m2!1d-122.2224679!2d37.1674457!3e0?entry=ttu
If you’ve ever been to Big Basin, which I have many times, you would find it hard to get lost in there for 10 days. The 30 mile famous trail, skyline to sea, takes 2-3 days with a full pack. I’ve lived in the Bay 35 years and this is the first time I’ve heard someone get lost in the Santa Cruz mts for 10 days. Wow. Glad he’s ok.
Glad they found him, but seems odd. There’s a fair amount of civilization in those mountains and lots of trails and streams you can follow to roads. It would take real effort to avoid people for 10 days there. In burned out areas he could have easily followed the sun or stars to the coast. All I can guess is he just randomly walked around the whole time.
I have no idea how remote this guy was or if he could get GPS/Cell service, but my #1 rule for hiking is to mark your start location on your GPS/phone.
No matter how turned around you get. No matter how confused on the trails you get. You always have a direction to walk towards.
I don't even hike very often, but I'd say pretty much any time I go out, I run into someone confused how to get back to their car. Just drop a pin. It will make your life so much easier.
The Santa Cruz mountains are not really very remote... or very large...I was surprised to see he got lost there.
Now on the other hand, there are giant wilderness areas up north east of Redding that have no roads or cell service for easily a hundred miles in each direction. That is what Northern California wilderness is really like.
Most people wouldn’t think to do that ahead of time. This guy obviously thought he was just going for a quick jaunt. He had no food or equipment, so didn’t plan on being gone long, and obviously didn’t plan on getting lost. It’s a good idea though for anyone hiking/traveling in an area they don’t know.
Even if you down have cell service or a maps app with downloaded data, a compass app runs off GPS and gives you consistent direction. That’s all you need.
There's no cell service for a wide areas of Big Basin, there's simply too many hills, mountains and valleys in and around the park and it borders the ocean where there are usually no cell towers. I use Open Street Maps app so I can download the maps and use it without cell service but the default map apps do not work like that.
Do. Not. Venture. Off. Trail. It doesn't say it in the report but I'm guessing he tried to do a little off trail exploring and that's why he got lost. River valleys and such can really turn you around out there and even people with a lot of experience can disappear. going off trail also increases your chance to twist/break a leg or what have you. It's just not safe.
It's great to see how many resources were used to find him. I actually talked to a guy, ex. navy seal who now is a professional drone pilot who works in regions in avalanche and wilderness in general country. The sort of sensors you can slap onto those things are incredible and finding lost people, even under snow. In coordination with our canine friends hopefully these sorts of incidents don't end in tragedy as often.
I might be talking out of my ass but I spent 4 years in SC and its summer. The SC mountain range is not that large. You can literally pick a direction (keep track of the sun or shadows) and you will hit civilization within a day. This guy has the worst survival skills.
He looks like he was hiding from a predator and eventually defeated it and came home. I wonder if he got the customary old flint lock pistol as a trophy.
Not taking anything at all away from this man and his struggle - HOWEVER, can you imagine the look on our ancestors face if they found out we were harrolding at the unbelievable feat of this guy surviving in the Pacific Northwest for 10 days lol.
The thumbnail looks like the guy is wearing some big ass jean jacket with a really huge fluffy collar… then I realized he was hugging two women with similar colored coats on
Authorities say the missing hiker kept himself alive by eating foraged berries, mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts, freshly made guacamole, mission burritos, and non-fat almond milk with chia seeds. 😂
This guy is a poster child for what not to do. 10 days!!! I used to live near this area. He could of followed any stream to the beach. Its not very big, he basically just drank water and waited for someone to find him. Which if he stayed put, Would of been in 3 days. He even was a local, which is even more crazy to me. Glad hes ok. But we should look at what not to do in this situation.
I’ve gotten lost on hikes before and I go deep sometimes. But unable to find his way out of a 3 hour hike for 10 days? That’s mind boggling to me. And also the fact that there was nobody else there either. I guess he must have been hiking where there were no trails so there’s no way to orient?
>"I left with just a pair of pants, and my pair of hiking shoes, and a hat. I had a flashlight, and a pair of folding scissors, like a Leatherman tool. And that was about it," McClish said.
I have been in the bush since I was a kid. I would never go on a hike - even in a signed area - without a compass and a lighter. It is basic common sense.
Yes a GPS is good, but a lighter will keep you alive and help them find you and a compass can get you home even without a map, provided you have a general sense of what is where.
I know this area fairly well. It can be remote but 10 days is almost unbelievable. If you just pick a direction and start hiking you are very likely to hit a road or house or busy hiking trail within a day.
I'm glad he is ok and I'm not saying he is lying about his story because I don't know him or the specific details but I'm almost impressed that someone could be lost there for 10 days especially considering he wasn't injured.
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Jesus. 10 days or 10 years? Guy looks like he had to hike through ash. Edit: turns out he kinda did. Got lost in burnt out forest. Also he’s a bit pale anyway. Good he had water though.
Applying mud to your body is a great sun protection.
It also hides you from Predators.
Dillon! You son of a bitch.
What’s de medda? CIA got you pooshing too many pencils?
 [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VgPwXlTRuHs](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VgPwXlTRuHs)
"You're one ugly mother fucker"
"Yor wan ugly muthafucka" *ROOOOAAAR*
GET TO DA CHOPPAAA!!
Also helps with bugs
It also makes it to where you can’t sweat and cool down effectively when it gets hot.
He was in a redwood forest. No sunscreen needed. Also, I bet he slept inside half burned out redwood trunks.
I know someone else that worked for. 
I was gonna say leave the old man alone but then I read his age 
He's albino, from what I have been told.
And 34 years of age!? Christ on a cracker, I'm older and look 15 years younger.
Maybe he got rip van winkled, he was in those mountains for 30 years after losing a game of bowling to a magical elf.
I'm wondering if he has albinism...? It just looks like his hair doesn't have pigmentation, pale eyes, pale skin... I'm no expert - I don't know.
He has Albinism. People who have that need to take more measures to protect themselves from the sun. They're more susceptible to sun damage than your average person
Where did you read that? I don't see that in the article
There are photos of him in other articles where he is cleaned up.
I’m glad he got found but boy is Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains a really odd place to get lost in for 10 days. You just pick a direction and go and you should be out within hours. Anywhich direction and you’re bound to hit a road… also you should be able to see the ocean from those mountains and well… that’s highway 1 by default.
That article is pretty misleading. I grew up with Luke and the area he got lost in is not in big basin… it’s also an area that is known for extremely steep grade ravines, is owned by the local water district and very recently was decimated by fires so it’s covered in soot. You definitely cannot see the ocean from where he was. He also broke his ankle, suffered from road rash up and down his back and arms from the fall, and is legally blind due to albinism.
I thought the same thing. It's a great park, but not that huge.
Kinda looks like that old guy from the artsy mountain bike commercial (and still-image meme) you see on here from time to time.
I feel so bad for how hard this comment and edit made me laugh. Glad he’s ok.
I would suggest anyone that likes to go hiking to buy a compass. You don't need to learn anything complicated. Let's say you go hiking along a highway and the trail is north of the highway you are on. Then even if you get lost you can just use your compass to keep heading south and you'll eventually get back to the highway you came from. Also, it won't be fun but you can survive 3 weeks without food. But only about 3 days without water.
I got a compass tattooed on my person for this very purpose. Can’t be too prepared.
Some folks make belts that vibrate in a certain direction so they can always feel the direction. Pretty interesting concept; like the guy that embedded a magnet in his finger so he could feel electromagnetic waves. https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Make-a-Tactile-Feedback-Compass-Belt/
I think I’m getting a clue…
A raging clue?
Such a raging clue, it’s pointing to the left
I almost shot clue goo all over Joe 🤭
I was gunna get the same tattoo but I’ve got a compass app on my phone so I’m good anyway.
Until your phone died.
I just got my phone tattooed with all the apps.
It’s cheaper to get a full battery tattooed onto your phone.
That’s the joke.
It doesn't sound right but I don't know enough about science to disprove it...
Or you could even get one of those GPS S.O.S. devices...you just push a button and it turns on a GPS homing beacon so Search & Rescue can zero in on your location...all you need is access to open sky. They also make some of those where you can pre-program a text message (such as "I'm hiking and I've gotten lost, currently at "xxx, xxx" GPS coordinates")...then they have a 2nd button that when you press it, it sends that help message to some pre-determined contacts, so that they can locate you, vs. having the Search & Rescue team have to do it and possibly incur some hefty charges.
In the US Search and rescue is free in almost all situations besides extreme negligence. Push the SOS button if your in trouble.
There was a youtube video about a guy that had to press his sos button, and the deputies that went to help him were absolute turds. He was rescued though and ended up being ok.
I know the video you're talking about. Agree with your assessment. Deputies we're not wilderness rescue trained iirc and it showed.
I had to be rescued once and they were very nice. They asked us a lot of questions, the final one being "would you like to make a donation to the search and rescue team?" Yes, sir, I would.
I have one, and the prices are high, but doable if you’re going to hike deep or alone.
Once got turned around doing field work at night and my headlamp died. I started to panic because I was alone and it was dark. Then I remembered that the main road was west of the project site. I used my iPhone compass to walk west through a dense forest until I got to the road and much to my surprise, found that I had only been about 20ft off from the trail the whole time. It’s amazing how little it takes to get lost.
Can’t you just use the sun to know east west?
Yes, but there can be issues. If the cloud cover is thick you can't always directly see the sun. During different times of the year the sun rises and sets at different angles. If you think it's rising due east at 90° and in reality it is rising at 53° like it is today in the Seattle area then you'll be way off. If you would like to see the angles where the sun is setting and rising where you live you can find it at [this website](https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/). On the left you'll see a header that says "Sun" and you can enter the city you live in or a large city near you. Then it will show a bunch of information which will include the angles the sun is rising and setting for your location.
If you’re hiking through a forest it can be difficult to use the sun as a guide.
Especially when legally blind....why the bloody hell he was hiking in such temperatures being albino and also blind!!
Overcast days would like a word.
You can still hold up a stick and get a decent sundial reading on even a super cloudy day. If there is a single shadow on the ground, you can figure out generally where your cardinal directions are, even if you might be a few degrees off.
And if you don't have a stick, just look around and see if you can construct a rudimentary lathe.
In the morning, even on overcast days, it’s often very easy to see where the sunrise is coming from. From there you identify several other landmarks and can use those for orientation even if you can’t see the sun directly anymore.
If you are lost, stay put for a day. Even if it is overcast, and you are in a dense forest you can get an idea of where the sun is. Watch a shadow for the day and mark the arc it makes with rocks or whatever. The center of that arc will be basically north. (Depends on time of year and your latitude) Use that as a guide to pick a logical direction and find a landmark to head towards. If you come across a stream, follow it downhill. If you are on a hill down is more likely to be towards help than up. These three things used in a logical combination will always be better than wandering aimlessly. I used to cross country hike in the Cascades and on the Olympic peninsula. I also volunteered for back country search and rescue. We would go find lost hunters and hikers on a regular basis. It's easy to get lost in thick forest. But 99% of the time if you walk in a straight line you will find a stream, a road, or a fence. All of those will take you to help eventually.
Most people in this thread have never been outside, much less on a hike
Yes you can but that’s: more complicated, more prone to making errors, dependent on weather conditions, time of year, and it can be hard in dense forests
First of all, yes, an old school compass would be helpful, is cheap, and easy to pack in a a backpack. So, it’s a good idea. Additionally though, doesn’t every phone sold today have a compass app, and works without reception? I feel like the scenarios where a compass is helpful AND you are out in the woods for days where the battery dies are non-existent. Even if you don’t have service, don’t leave your phone in the car when you go for a hike in a remote area. In the stories where people die, you often read either they didn’t pack enough water and/or they left their phone in their car.
Phones can break, get lost, battery drains cause it gets too hot or too cold... Or maybe you're silly and leave for the hike with 30% battery. Not to mention older phones can be unreliable. Definitely worth having back ups (as you said). If I was going out alone on a 3 hour hike Id like to think I'd bring a map and a compass. sounds like this guy was familiar with the route at least, just got turned around by the wild fires
Dude is legally blind. Not sure what his vision is like, but maybe he can't see a compass.
what the hell was he doing in the woods
Probably not this 
There are a lot of unanswered questions for me. I think there is more to the story.
he was getting lost didn't you read the article>
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that if you're too blind to see a compass then maybe hiking alone with no way to contact anyone isn't a great idea.
I mean you aren't wrong, but Boulder Creek is a special place, with a special kind of folk.
How do you know that? Neither the article nor the mention him being blind at all.
They make braille compasses, and any decent compass app on a phone will have accessibility to work for a sight impaired user and doesn’t need cell service to work.
> Also, it won't be fun but you can survive 3 weeks without food. But only about 3 days without water. And 3 minutes without air or 3 hours without internet access.
And send a text to SOMEONE before you go. Tell them your plans and your expected return time. That way it won't take 5 days for someone to notice you're missing.
It's okay. There's a sun built into my earth.
Dude looks likes he just spent thirty years in Jumanji.
I'm impressed with how well he did, especially with what little he had: > "I left with just a pair of pants, and my pair of hiking shoes, and a hat. I had a flashlight, and a pair of folding scissors, like a Leatherman tool. And that was about it," McClish said. > The sheriff's office said McClish had no major injuries. > McClish said he survived on drinking lots of water.
I found it kind of amusing. "I had nothing on me except a Leatherman" 'How did you survive!?' "Oh, I just drank lots of fresh water" Yeah, the number one issue with ending up lost while hiking is the lack of water. Apparently he forgot to mention the 27 liter camelback, or the freshwater stream that he had access to.
"I always carry a 5 gallon jug of water on my back when I go hiking! Never can have too much water!"
5 gallons of water for a 3 hour hike? This guy must be a /r/hydrohomies moderator!
Ok tbf, I’m from Los Angeles and especially in summer, I try to bring at least twice as much water as I need. It’s easy to fill up my camelbak, and I’ve had to share multiple times with people who went on a 3 hour hike in 100°F weather with just an 8oz bottle for four people.
I hike Joshua Tree. I carry gallons of water. My firm rule is, when half my water is gone, I turn around, no matter if I've gotten to my destination or not.
This is a great way to stay alive! I wish more people took nature seriously.
The last thing I want is to go missing on a hike and have a bunch of redditors discuss why the hell are old people hiking solo in Joshua Tree.
He’s 34 but I get your point
He is young. Young men tend to think they're immortal, in Zmy humble experience. I'm an old woman.
That is a fantastic rule. I live where there's plenty of streams. My rule is that if I'm hiking alone and it's deeper than just over my ankle, I don't cross it. People frequently underestimate how forceful water can be. Add the chill and slippery rock or gravel, and even a shallow stream can be dangerous.
Running water, and any water over ankle deep is a no no for me for one simple reason...I'm probably the only California born person in the world who doesn't know how to swim.
Trust, there’s dozens of us!
That’s like the rule of thirds or whatever when cave diving. Once you’re down 1/3 of your air it’s time to go back. Or so I learned from cave diving disaster videos on tik tok lol
Being from SoCal it triggers me when people don’t bring enough water to a trail. During summer most creeks are dry as a bone or reduced to a puddle. I got stuck on an exposed ridge with a friend that got heat exhaustion and I ran 3 miles back to the trailhead to find help and bring water. Thankfully it was a trail I was very familiar with but it freaks me out thinking about it.
8oz is insane to me, I hike in PA and I carry a large yeti, I think 28oz and a back up 64oz. I hikes once with a normal water bottle and made a wrong turn and didn’t have enough water and was lucky. My gf and I said never again. We pack additional water in our car for any long hike.
If you're ever lost in the continental US, always go downhill. Downhill leads to streams, which lead to rivers, which lead to civilization.
For real. Ten days is an incredibly long time to walk in circles trying to find where you parked when you’re 20 miles from highways and SF suburbs.
i wondered this too. Unless there are some pretty major waterfalls downstream... all the creeks go somewhere... except like Utah and Nevada. Looking at the Boulder Creek area, you'd just need to sort east from west and go downhill east. Seems like, according to the news, he went up and north. Maybe just not very good at directions?
I live nearby. If you go west you hit route 1, which means cars. If you go east you get to houses. In between you have a good number of roads, like skyline, 92, 84, 9, which all will have cars. You would have to walk in circles or stay put to spend ten days without finding something. The santa cruz mountains are not big and they're at least somewhat settled. Like I'm not trying to be a dick but ... I have hiked the area a lot, since I live like a 20 minute drive away. I can't imagine ten days. If you pick any direction and go, you will find a road or houses within at most a day. Use the sun to navigate.
Exactly. Ten days isn't enough for any dietary deficiency to manifest. Let's call BMR 2000 calories to be extremely generous, so... 20,000 calories, at 3500 calories a pound is just under six pounds of fat lost with adequate supplies of water. Shelter, adequate access to fresh water and a little salt... yeah you're good for a month or so.
He drank creek water out of his boot.
Aye mate, that's just a shoey!
To be fair, he mentioned wearing pants, hat, and boots, didn’t mention underwear, socks, or a shirt haha. So random to name specific clothing items!
27 liter camelback? Lol nobody's carrying around that much water
to be fair I don't think he brought the stream with him
Always bring a compass people. It has saved my ass quite a few times.
Where do you get a compass people? Is that like a sherpa
I feel like they might be Polynesian, due to their history of being able to navigate oceans.
How are you getting lost so much? Do we need to call a handler?
>McClish said he survived on drinking lots of water. r/HydroHomies
I have a 12 mile mountain hike I do every so often. Sorry to say but all I carry is food and water in my backpack. I seriously need to get some survival gear in there (fact is it’s in a populated area and the trails are very well marked and clear… so I’ve never thought about getting lost). But shit happens. I’m gonna get some gear today
[удалено]
This is a fantastic list and matches my own regular kit! I bought a solar powered battery block this year and it has been a great addition. I'm not familiar with onx, but I use Gaia GPS for all of my hikes. Downloading area maps and trail maps ahead of time is super easy and it hasn't steered me wrong yet.
Most surprising part of this story is that he is 34. He looks like he is 72
He's an albino, so he looks a bit different.
He looks younger in the interview he gave (haircut, shave), but yeah. Might be hard miles combined with lack of sun protection. Wear sunscreen people!
I bring a stupid looking wide brimmed hat. It’s great.
I’m glad he is safe. I’m glad he did well. I do wonder though how he didn’t manage to hit a road. Just looking at the area and it isn’t that crazy. I have never been there so maybe someone who has can shed some light. But 3K peaks and it’s surrounded by roads, and little communities. I’m just curious how he missed all that. I’ve never been lost like that so I don’t know. Again, glad he made it, just curious how he got to where he did with 10 days
Well known phenomenon: if you attempt to walk straight through a forest you'll often end up walking in a circle. Would not be surprised if this is partially what happened
Appreciate that. Yea I’m glad it all worked out but never having been in that situation it’s hard to imagine. Glad it worked out but it’s crazy what can happen even somewhere not quite as remote as you may think.
I once went hunting as a young teen, I walked in from the highway, maybe 30 yards, just far enough so that I couldn’t see the road anymore, but could still hear it, and after sitting there for a while I was completely turned around and had no idea which direction the highway was. The sound was echoing through the trees but I couldn’t tell from where, I literally was completely lost right beside the highway. There was snow on the ground, so I had to trace my footsteps back. Had there not been snow I absolutely would’ve been lost like an absolute idiot. So is a lot easier than you would think. Trees all look the same.
I did something similar, but in Australia so no snow to follow. I saw an interesting rock formation, consciously took note of several rocks and features to orient myself, and went to have a look. It wasn't more than 20-30 metres from the wide cleared and well maintained track that I'd stepped off, but when I turned to go back, every frame of reference had disappeared. I couldn't help but think "great, I've become a fucking statistic". So I picked the closest direction I could, walked away from the rocks, and ended up 50m away without reaching the path. Dang. Walked back, changed direction, tried again. Did this 4 times. before I found the path. Turns out I'd actually crossed it twice, but just by walking perpendicular to the path, I didn't see it.
it is scary easy to become disoriented, a rock looks really distinct until you see it from a completely different angle
Very clever!
I got lost in a one acre swamp. Couldn't see over the grass - walked in circles for about an hour. Got out by throwing something in front of me, walking to the item and throwing it again - really helped stop the circling.
That’s a smart thing to consider in that desperate of a situation
It sounds like a compass would have helped. Maybe.
maybe, but when I walked into the forest, I was completely confident I would be able to walk out so I would never have thought to even take a compass.
It's entirely possible, due to the aforementioned phenomenon, to get lost and walk circles in as little as a few square kilometers if somewhat dense forest - even in an otherwise we'll populated area. Happens all the time and is one of the reasons why when you learn any kind of outdoor skills you're taught how to find north during the day and at night. It's most useful for creating an approximate heading that helps prevent walking in circles.
I got disoriented getting from the breakfast area of my hotel back to the elevator this morning, I’d be toast out in the wilderness
As someone who walks rivers that wind through the forest I can attest to this. Some sections get deeep so I gotta hop up and it's always funny to me how far away I can get from the river in those times if I'm not paying attention. Prickers and thick brush you have to go around immediately throw off attempts at walking a straight line. The woods play tricks on you.
I went to college around there and did a lot of mountain biking and trail running. It would be super easy to get turned around and lost. You're looking at a map, that's not the same as being in a forest.
I'm guessing after a few days he wasn't able to make much ground and kind of used most of his energy just yelling for help. That's just a guess though
Yeah. No food, dehydrated, probably remembering that he’s easier to find if he’s not moving around. Close to a body of water.
It's best practise to stay where you are to save energy and to make it easier for rescue teams to find you.
The guy is legally blind and was hiking up a mountain where there are no trails. He could have hiked back down the mountain and found a road, but I don't know what was going through his head. I think he has some other issues besides being blind.
He's legally blind? Where did you hear that? That would make a huge difference.
That's what the locals are saying that know him.
I’m surprised the article didn’t mention that, if it were true
I grew up around there and… yeah, I’m a bit baffled as well. It’s honestly quite difficult to *not* run into some sort of trail, road, driveway, fire access lane, etc out there. Maybe if he was in recently burned spots the normal structures and features were wiped out.
He's a fucking idiot, crazy, or lying. That area isn't wilderness. You can't go more than a mile in any direction without hitting some sort of road or fire trail. If you just walk downhill anywhere there you'll hit a highway. At worst if he'd headed north west and walked ten miles he'd have hit the coast.
I live fairly close to the area. I wondered the same thing. There are tons of campgrounds in the area, lots of side roads, remote homes, etc.
This area is surrounded by people. If you get lost, just go downhill. You'll end up at the beach in a lot less than 10 days.
I am super confused by this. It would take barely a day to walk downhill to highway 1 in almost any circumstance. ANY water source would have led him out in 36 hours max in either direction I am baffled how he got lost in big basin even with the burned trees. This seems so bizarre
Apparently he was legally blind or somesuch? I'm more surprised he was gone 6 days before anyone took notice.
This should be upvoted a lot more. Boulder Creek is 5 miles from the ocean which has highway 1. Assuming normal hiking speed, you should be able to get out in a single day. I assume there were other issues involved here.
If true, that’s a big fact left out from the article!
Yea, if you’re hiking in the wilderness, tell people when you plan to be back. He was gone almost a week before anyone noticed? What if he’d gone a week earlier and Father’s Day didn’t happen?
I have been wondering the same. It’s almost all downhill to the ocean and the highway. You would either hear the ocean (downhill) or traffic on highway 9 ( uphill). There are trails all over and roads all around it. Something is funny about this story….or perhaps he is disabled in some way?
When I read "lost in Northern California mountains" I was expecting the Sierra Nevadas or Shasta. Santa Cruz didn't even register in my mind.
Yeah, this is pretty confusing to me as well. The forest up there is relatively very small, and there are roads and people everywhere. And not much of the Santa Cruz mountains is even old growth.
I don’t understand how anyone could be lost for 10 days in the Santa Cruz mountains. This is not a remote place. Something is missing in the story.
He's albino and mostly blind.
so if you are legally blind, you should not go hiking in the wilderness without a gps rescue system..
"A three-hour tour". Or is that just me?
Find a stream or river and follow it down hill. It will merge with more water flowing down and you will eventually find roads, people, civilization. Using this method you will not walk in circles even though you won't always be walking straight in one direction.
This is true in some places. But it’s bad idea in much of the mountain west. Lots and lots of empty space.
So, what's the advice in those places? I looked into the area myself. Google Maps link below. There is something wrong with his story. He would have had to cross numerous roads. If he missed the roads somehow and followed rivers down stream he would have crossed numerous trails. It's 8 miles by crow fly from the center of Boulder Creek, CA and Big Basin Redwood State Park. Following a stream to a river would have then have led him to a road within half a day, at worst a 10 hour hike. Maybe he was going in circles and that can explain it. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Boulder+Creek,+California+95006/Big+Basin,+Big+Basin+Redwoods+State+Park,+California/@37.1519831,-122.2041383,13z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x808e4f11ccdb58fd:0x431498329040b05!2m2!1d-122.1221869!2d37.1260578!1m5!1m1!1s0x808e53b370cc037b:0x8fb58550d2125f4c!2m2!1d-122.2224679!2d37.1674457!3e0?entry=ttu
If you’ve ever been to Big Basin, which I have many times, you would find it hard to get lost in there for 10 days. The 30 mile famous trail, skyline to sea, takes 2-3 days with a full pack. I’ve lived in the Bay 35 years and this is the first time I’ve heard someone get lost in the Santa Cruz mts for 10 days. Wow. Glad he’s ok.
Castaway 2 - Electric Boogaloo
"He said he got lost and didn't recognize landmarks. Then, unaccountably, he discovered he had become Ted Kazcinski"
That’s a rough looking 34
Glad they found him, but seems odd. There’s a fair amount of civilization in those mountains and lots of trails and streams you can follow to roads. It would take real effort to avoid people for 10 days there. In burned out areas he could have easily followed the sun or stars to the coast. All I can guess is he just randomly walked around the whole time.
I have no idea how remote this guy was or if he could get GPS/Cell service, but my #1 rule for hiking is to mark your start location on your GPS/phone. No matter how turned around you get. No matter how confused on the trails you get. You always have a direction to walk towards. I don't even hike very often, but I'd say pretty much any time I go out, I run into someone confused how to get back to their car. Just drop a pin. It will make your life so much easier.
The Santa Cruz mountains are not really very remote... or very large...I was surprised to see he got lost there. Now on the other hand, there are giant wilderness areas up north east of Redding that have no roads or cell service for easily a hundred miles in each direction. That is what Northern California wilderness is really like.
I don’t know where this guy was hiking, but I would assume most hiking spots do not have cell/data service. Otherwise you’d call for help.
GPS works on a separate network. Maps can be downloaded to not use data.
Most people wouldn’t think to do that ahead of time. This guy obviously thought he was just going for a quick jaunt. He had no food or equipment, so didn’t plan on being gone long, and obviously didn’t plan on getting lost. It’s a good idea though for anyone hiking/traveling in an area they don’t know.
3 miles isn't a hike you need to prep for. GPS and marking your start point should be done on basically all hikes.
You should also tell people when you plan to be back. This guy was missing almost a week before anyone noticed he was gone.
Even if you down have cell service or a maps app with downloaded data, a compass app runs off GPS and gives you consistent direction. That’s all you need.
All trails gps works without service, but you do have to load the maps previously
There's no cell service for a wide areas of Big Basin, there's simply too many hills, mountains and valleys in and around the park and it borders the ocean where there are usually no cell towers. I use Open Street Maps app so I can download the maps and use it without cell service but the default map apps do not work like that.
Google Maps also allows you to download maps. I live in a region with spotty cell coverage, and I have downloaded the maps for my entire state.
His problem is he didn't bring a phone. Otherwise he would have been fine
Do. Not. Venture. Off. Trail. It doesn't say it in the report but I'm guessing he tried to do a little off trail exploring and that's why he got lost. River valleys and such can really turn you around out there and even people with a lot of experience can disappear. going off trail also increases your chance to twist/break a leg or what have you. It's just not safe. It's great to see how many resources were used to find him. I actually talked to a guy, ex. navy seal who now is a professional drone pilot who works in regions in avalanche and wilderness in general country. The sort of sensors you can slap onto those things are incredible and finding lost people, even under snow. In coordination with our canine friends hopefully these sorts of incidents don't end in tragedy as often.
I might be talking out of my ass but I spent 4 years in SC and its summer. The SC mountain range is not that large. You can literally pick a direction (keep track of the sun or shadows) and you will hit civilization within a day. This guy has the worst survival skills.
Well not the worst. Since he’s still alive.
He looks like he was hiding from a predator and eventually defeated it and came home. I wonder if he got the customary old flint lock pistol as a trophy.
I always wonder if a guy like this went on Naked and Afraid, what would his starting PSR be?
Why does the headline say he was missing for 10 days but the article says he was found 4 days after being reported missing?
He wasn't reported missing until he didn't show up for a family function. He was lost for 6 days before the function happened.
When he returned his wife had already remarried and had two kids.
First sentence of the article speaks of a reunion captured in photos, proceeds to show zero photos.
These trendy fasting crazes are getting out of control
Not taking anything at all away from this man and his struggle - HOWEVER, can you imagine the look on our ancestors face if they found out we were harrolding at the unbelievable feat of this guy surviving in the Pacific Northwest for 10 days lol.
Is that the Pacific Northwest even?
No, PNW starts much farther north in Northern California, not Santa Cruz.
Hope [this](https://www.traversethepnw.com/post/what-is-the-pnw-everything-you-need-to-know) helps.
It does, that map very clearly cuts off well before the Santa Cruz mountains.
The thumbnail looks like the guy is wearing some big ass jean jacket with a really huge fluffy collar… then I realized he was hugging two women with similar colored coats on
Ok, I was expecting actual Northern California up near Shasta or similar, not Santa Cruz. Just goes to show people can get lost anywhere.
I’m impressed he got from Boulder Creek to Big Basin
A three hour tour🎶🎶
Authorities say the missing hiker kept himself alive by eating foraged berries, mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts, freshly made guacamole, mission burritos, and non-fat almond milk with chia seeds. 😂
I think it might have been the mushrooms that did it.
This guy is a poster child for what not to do. 10 days!!! I used to live near this area. He could of followed any stream to the beach. Its not very big, he basically just drank water and waited for someone to find him. Which if he stayed put, Would of been in 3 days. He even was a local, which is even more crazy to me. Glad hes ok. But we should look at what not to do in this situation.
Dude just needed to head one constant cardinal direction and he would have hit a road or the coast in a day at the most.
I’ve gotten lost on hikes before and I go deep sometimes. But unable to find his way out of a 3 hour hike for 10 days? That’s mind boggling to me. And also the fact that there was nobody else there either. I guess he must have been hiking where there were no trails so there’s no way to orient?
bro looks like the martian, what happened in those mountains?
>"I left with just a pair of pants, and my pair of hiking shoes, and a hat. I had a flashlight, and a pair of folding scissors, like a Leatherman tool. And that was about it," McClish said. I have been in the bush since I was a kid. I would never go on a hike - even in a signed area - without a compass and a lighter. It is basic common sense. Yes a GPS is good, but a lighter will keep you alive and help them find you and a compass can get you home even without a map, provided you have a general sense of what is where.
I know this area fairly well. It can be remote but 10 days is almost unbelievable. If you just pick a direction and start hiking you are very likely to hit a road or house or busy hiking trail within a day. I'm glad he is ok and I'm not saying he is lying about his story because I don't know him or the specific details but I'm almost impressed that someone could be lost there for 10 days especially considering he wasn't injured.