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Resources
How not to get lost
The cure for all cases of being lost is the same: stay found. Always maintain association between your location on the actual terrain and your intended route on the map. If you do this, you should never actually get lost.
- Be sure all members of your party are acquainted with the intended route, even if this is merely a quick review at the trailhead before you leave.
- If you're leading a trip with more serious route finding challenges, consider making a formal route card, with enough detail and decision points to make you confident of successful navigation. More on making a route card
- Encourage your climbing team to voice any suspicions they may have that the route may be incorrect.
- Turn around often, especially at decision points, to get an idea of what the return route will look like. Even if you plan a loop route, you still might have to return the same way you came in, due to accidents, weather, etc.
- If you're returning along the same path, a few meters of brightly colored plastic surveyors tape can be very handy to mark the return path. Get it at any hardware store. Wrap it around a small bit of cardboard and secure with tape for easy, compact storage. Be sure and collect it when you hike out.
- Don't allow your climbing team to become widely separated, as it is a tremendous waste of time to find a lost member. If you are off trail and/or in low visibility, take extra care to keep your climb team close together.
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527 SE 43rd Ave, Portland OR 97215 © 1894 - 2012 Mazamas
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527 SE 43rd Ave, Portland OR 97215 © 1894 - 2012 Mazamas
Contact Us | Privacy