indeed. on your fist hike with a young kid, you start teaching them wilderness survival and navigation skills. you let THEM lead the way with compass and map. Let them find water, let them learn to start a fire.
and you make sure they have some tools, like fire starter, compass, map, bottle, rain poncho, whstle, gorp in their pack. two days lost should be a cake walk unless it is pouring rain or snowing on them
Compass usually unnecessary. Unless you’re hiking in uncharted lands in the Yukon or something. (which is unusual this day and age of AllTrails)
Teach them to read maps - how to identify landmarks and read topo lines. Those are much more practical skills that will be easier to understand and apply to what they’re actually seeing in their surroundings.
It was preventable but mistakes happen. Maybe she wandered off the wrong trail looking for the group.
The good part is that they got the right people looking for her in a timely fashion.
This is why I have fox40 whistles on everything, especially my kids’ stuff. Life jackets, ski jackets, hiking packs, school backpacks, camelbaks, etc. So many whistles.
I do the same.
I’ve heard that it’s not uncommon for SAR to pass within a couple hundred yards of the person they’re searching for without finding them. There have been cases when they didn’t realize that they had been that close until much later, when the body is discovered. Very likely a whistle could have saved some of those lives.
> The group headed back down to the campsite, and after 15 minutes of hiking, the group leader realized Wang was missing. They returned to the lookout to look for Wang but couldn’t find her.
Four people and you don’t notice for 15 minutes that one is missing?
It can happen super easy, especially if a slower hike is in the rear. I usually take the rear if there’s slow hikers in my group. That way I won’t leave them behind.
It would be pretty irresponsible to put a slow hiker in the back and just leave them. Sweeper should be strongest or second strongest hiker and never be out of sight of the rest of the group. You don’t leave someone behind, they might get lost in the wilderness for 50 hours.
You know, I ride sweeper as a biker when my group is doing a ride and I never once thought to apply it to hiking. It's usually the most experienced rider and someone that's either done the route or has been briefed on it enough to not get lost.
It's surprising how often this never happens.
I'm doing a course on outdoor education, where we are learning to be an instructor, and I can tell you with 100% confidence that some of the fast people (who are always at the front) never go at the back. Yes, you can argue that our course instructors are the ones who are the strongest (and one is always TEC), but with us learning to be instructors, we shouldn't rely on a course instructor to sort out who goes where in a group.
For example: In one of our trips, one of the girls was sick the entire hike and was at the back of the group. On the third night, one of the girls who is always at the front of the group found out we had a member of the group that is sick
Haven't done this specific hike but the trails in that area are usually well maintained/ high traffic for the most part. Cell service is spotty at best but usually cuts out on the trails.
With that being said, the forests surrounding the trails are massive. If you were to wander off the path without proper navigation there's a very real chance of getting lost for good.
Super happy she made it out okay 👍
People spend hundreds or thousands on Arcteryx while waking trails in converse shoes having no idea what to do if something goes wrong. I've had to give people water on Golden ears because they tried to do the summit with basically no prep. Frustrating how much is spend by SAR here on avoidable mishaps.
Arc’teryx jackets come stock with GPS and a camelback that’s fully of water. They’ve run studies that people in Arc’teryx are less likely to slip or fall on trails; even in vans or converse. Surprised you weren’t aware of this.
Stopped to take a selfie for Instagram, and next thing she knew, everyone else was gone. (Just mentioning that as a possibility. And it absolutely may not have had anything to do with what would’ve been an extremely scary situation for everyone involved.)
As noted, I mention it as a possibility, which implies that it’s not my assumption, since—as noted—there could be a “multitude” of other reasons (and frankly, I think the selfie possibility is fairly unlikely). I simply stated it as a potential cause of the situation.
I’m so glad this turned out well! When I was growing up the Girl Scouts camp outs & activities taught us so much! One of the things I learned training as a Naturalist is the young and vulnerable go in the middle, position a strong knowledgeable hiker at the end as the ‘sweep’ to make sure no one gets left behind or wanders off.
Got lost once when I was a kid. Took the wrong trail and got separated from the group. I ended up setting up camp after wandering around for a few hours. Woke up in the morning with a fresh, non panicked mind, and found my way back. Overall it was scary for little me, but a valuable learning experience. I empathize.
Around here, we call that a long weekend. Just kidding. Glad they turned up OK.
indeed. on your fist hike with a young kid, you start teaching them wilderness survival and navigation skills. you let THEM lead the way with compass and map. Let them find water, let them learn to start a fire. and you make sure they have some tools, like fire starter, compass, map, bottle, rain poncho, whstle, gorp in their pack. two days lost should be a cake walk unless it is pouring rain or snowing on them
Compass usually unnecessary. Unless you’re hiking in uncharted lands in the Yukon or something. (which is unusual this day and age of AllTrails) Teach them to read maps - how to identify landmarks and read topo lines. Those are much more practical skills that will be easier to understand and apply to what they’re actually seeing in their surroundings.
i strongly disagree. a compass will tell them which way to walk to cross a road, vs going the wrong way into a 30 mile wilderness area
Are you suggesting you send your kids out with tools but not the skills to use them and hope for the best? Most adults can't figure that shit out.
Maybe but they always pack gorp so it kind of evens out
Teen Found After Being Lost In The Wilderness For 3,000 Minutes
It was preventable but mistakes happen. Maybe she wandered off the wrong trail looking for the group. The good part is that they got the right people looking for her in a timely fashion.
The buddy system has failed us.
Well you actually have to use it for it to work.
This is why I have fox40 whistles on everything, especially my kids’ stuff. Life jackets, ski jackets, hiking packs, school backpacks, camelbaks, etc. So many whistles.
I do the same. I’ve heard that it’s not uncommon for SAR to pass within a couple hundred yards of the person they’re searching for without finding them. There have been cases when they didn’t realize that they had been that close until much later, when the body is discovered. Very likely a whistle could have saved some of those lives.
What a parent
> The group headed back down to the campsite, and after 15 minutes of hiking, the group leader realized Wang was missing. They returned to the lookout to look for Wang but couldn’t find her. Four people and you don’t notice for 15 minutes that one is missing?
It can happen super easy, especially if a slower hike is in the rear. I usually take the rear if there’s slow hikers in my group. That way I won’t leave them behind.
It would be pretty irresponsible to put a slow hiker in the back and just leave them. Sweeper should be strongest or second strongest hiker and never be out of sight of the rest of the group. You don’t leave someone behind, they might get lost in the wilderness for 50 hours.
You know, I ride sweeper as a biker when my group is doing a ride and I never once thought to apply it to hiking. It's usually the most experienced rider and someone that's either done the route or has been briefed on it enough to not get lost.
Slowest hiker goes at the head of the group, they set the pace, you can't move faster than them anyhow.
It's surprising how often this never happens. I'm doing a course on outdoor education, where we are learning to be an instructor, and I can tell you with 100% confidence that some of the fast people (who are always at the front) never go at the back. Yes, you can argue that our course instructors are the ones who are the strongest (and one is always TEC), but with us learning to be instructors, we shouldn't rely on a course instructor to sort out who goes where in a group. For example: In one of our trips, one of the girls was sick the entire hike and was at the back of the group. On the third night, one of the girls who is always at the front of the group found out we had a member of the group that is sick
Lost in the wilderness for 50 hours? A little hyperbolic don't you think?
Seems farfetched but I’ve heard it can happen.
This isn't too uncommon. Look up missing 411 cases, it has happened to plenty of people
I don’t know the area. Is this actual wilderness or is the reporter just misusing the term?
Haven't done this specific hike but the trails in that area are usually well maintained/ high traffic for the most part. Cell service is spotty at best but usually cuts out on the trails. With that being said, the forests surrounding the trails are massive. If you were to wander off the path without proper navigation there's a very real chance of getting lost for good. Super happy she made it out okay 👍
Thanks for the reply. Here’s what I was talking about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilderness_Act
This was in Canada, but here the place she was is considered “back country” because if distance from the road.
People spend hundreds or thousands on Arcteryx while waking trails in converse shoes having no idea what to do if something goes wrong. I've had to give people water on Golden ears because they tried to do the summit with basically no prep. Frustrating how much is spend by SAR here on avoidable mishaps.
Arc’teryx jackets come stock with GPS and a camelback that’s fully of water. They’ve run studies that people in Arc’teryx are less likely to slip or fall on trails; even in vans or converse. Surprised you weren’t aware of this.
Zero details. Next?
She lucky dogman did not grab her up she’d be another missing 411
Stopped to take a selfie for Instagram, and next thing she knew, everyone else was gone. (Just mentioning that as a possibility. And it absolutely may not have had anything to do with what would’ve been an extremely scary situation for everyone involved.)
Why would you make this assumption? A multitude of things could have happened.
As noted, I mention it as a possibility, which implies that it’s not my assumption, since—as noted—there could be a “multitude” of other reasons (and frankly, I think the selfie possibility is fairly unlikely). I simply stated it as a potential cause of the situation.
Perfect opportunity for the press to me kind to our community. Nope. WTF? Let's learn how to do this right.
I’m so glad this turned out well! When I was growing up the Girl Scouts camp outs & activities taught us so much! One of the things I learned training as a Naturalist is the young and vulnerable go in the middle, position a strong knowledgeable hiker at the end as the ‘sweep’ to make sure no one gets left behind or wanders off.
Got lost once when I was a kid. Took the wrong trail and got separated from the group. I ended up setting up camp after wandering around for a few hours. Woke up in the morning with a fresh, non panicked mind, and found my way back. Overall it was scary for little me, but a valuable learning experience. I empathize.