Did you ever get lost in the wilderness

and have to spend the night? I got lost a few times both in the Rockies and Appalachian Mountains but found my way out before night fall. Thanks to a compass. However, even though the Rockies are more remote, it was more difificult to get out of the eastern wilderness as once I got twisted in this dense forest everything looked the same.

I got turned around once in Canada bushwhacking and had to spend the night. I was eighteen at the time and I was hypothermic but made it back. Learned a few things that night.

Not lost, lol, but out of poor judgment, had to spend the night one spring at ice out beaver season, 30 miles out in the bush. There is a story there but it's only mildly off topic .

Never been lost, but I've been bewildered a few times.

Jim

I think it Daniel Boone that wasn't lost for a couple years, but was confused .

Have been disoriented, but not lost in the wilderness.

Haven't been lost yet but with a little gear I'd rather be lost in the woods than spend the night in the city..

Me and my buddy Stanley made spears by whittling some points on sticks with our pocket knives. We were between 1st and 2nd grade. Went deer hunting. Followed some tracks as best we could. Seen some deer off in the distance. Tried to sneak up on them. Then tried to follow those deer. Started getting dark. We realized we didn't know how to get home. Our parents were frantic. They had no clue we had made spears and were deer hunting. (we had watched a western movie. neither could wander with a firearm alone but we sure could whittle a point on a stick) Finally about 9-10 oclock we saw somebodys yard light. Was a long ways to it. Probably midnight when we got there. Took awhile to wake anybody up.

I learned a good lesson that day. Always carry a few basics and pay attention where your going. Never had any bad trouble since. Have been jammed up and miserable but never lost or without some basic stuff like food and water.

Not lost. Been turned around a few times real bad. I love my gps, let's me hunt all day. Still have a map and compass with me as back up.

Never lost but taken way out of the way a time or two.

Never lost. But turned around for sure. Even in my own stomping grounds here at home at nite. First time I ever used a GPS in the Rockies I kinda started to panic on a return trip to the truck. Waited till dark to head back to the truck, GPS told me one thing... but my mind wanted to do another. Learned to trust the GPS that nite!!

not lost but i have a sang area i can't get my bearing on and come out at the same wrong place EVERY time.you can drop me off 20 miles from home and i'd beeline through the hills straight to the house,not there and like an idiot i seem to do it every year.

I don't look at it as lost. As much as I wander, where I end up is where I end up. All just part of the unknown adventure.
Pretty much like life itself.

Osky

Why is it everyone has one spot their internal compass does not work? Lol

never lost,just took longer to get out than i thought.

Spent a night on a little island while bear hunting in Canada back in the 70s a big lake everything looked the same the only difference between the lake and a bay was the waves were bigger when on the lake. Had a fire going my face was very warm and my butt was freezing did the "roller dog" thing all night.

With a little light the next morning we boated right back to camp no problem!

please don't pick on me but in my younger days i would drink a little whiskey on occassion and walk home from the pub.thought i'd take a shortcut through the cornfield one night and got in the middle and had to take a leak.when done i looked up and went uh-oh,which way.luckily a car went down the road a couple min later and i got my bearings but you bet i didn't use that shortcut again.

Turned around twice, but not lost.

I never had to spend a night in the back country from being lost. I have been turned around many times and not a good feeling. When I go into new areas I don't get in so deep the first few times. I learn the country first you could say, then keep on to grow and learn the land ahead of me. I carry a GPS now but they don't work when you are in the back country.

Been turned around a little. Never lost or hung out all night. I've popped out of the woods a few times coon hunting or checking traps in the dark in spots I didn't think I should have been. Throws you off.

I've been confused a time or 2 but lever lost.

I've lived in the Appalachian mountains my whole life and spent many nights out chasing coon dogs but the only time I ever felt lost was in the swamps of South Carolina near the Savannah river once. I walked into the swamps looking to kill a hog, and got in a bee's nest and by the time I stopped running from those little bombing bast@rds I didn't have a clue which way to go. I followed a waterway and finally came out at the road

not really lost - but was hunting and went off on a ridge I hadn't been down before. thought I was closer to a known point than I really was and it was well after dark before I got out of there. did not have a very good flashlight, which only made the trip take longer

Not lost but turned around bad for 3 or 4 days.

Seriously, I can get turned around worse than anyone I know and if it weren't for a compass I would have walked many miles more than I did. I still can look at a compass and think it is broken but in the end it never is.

Seems like I'm more likely to get lost on city streets than I am in the wilderness. The only time I lost track of my route back was when I was out in the woods at night. Even then, I was able to head in the direction of the forest road and come out okay. I even guesses the right direction on which direction to follow the road back to my truck.

One time I was out with the Mrs. on a 40 mile overnight canoe trip. We didn't bring a map and only knew that our truck was parked at a bridge 40 miles downstream. On day two of the journey, I knew we were on the right river and going the correct direction. Still, I had no idea on where our position was or how close to the end of our trip we were. That feeling of not knowing was quite exciting and it made me think of what some explorers must have felt in knowing approximately where they were and where they were heading - but not knowing what they would encounter ahead or how long it would take to get there. That gave me a real sense of adventure. I remember we stopped for lunch on the afternoon of day 2. After a rest, we got back in the canoe determined to make one last big push to make it to our take-out spot. We were afraid we would need to spend another night on the river and miss things we were supposed to do the next morning. People might even come looking for us if we weren't home by dark that night. So we got back in the boat, paddled around the next bend in the river and right there was the bridge where our truck was parked. We had stopped for a lunch break about 500 yards from the end of the trip.

I loved the sense of not knowing and uncertainty. Always knowing where you are and what comes next is comforting, but boring. Some uncertainty adds a lot of adventure and excitement to the journey. I think that's something a lot of people will miss out on with their GPS's and cell phone companions.

I remember one scary time when fog rolled in on us. I can tell you if it wouldn't not of been for a compass things might not have turn out so good. Not really being lost but the feeling of helpless was real.

I call getting lost, taking the scenic route.

No,I'm still here.
It is not uncommon for people to disappear in the bush here and not be heard from again.

you tryin to get our hopes up Boco??

I get turned around inside large buildings.

Funny how all you guys have never been lost, just "turned around" lol.

nothing different than asking for directions which is something i've never had to do.

Yes I have and when I get home the wife is mad cause I found my way back. Says next time she'll drop me off further out. LOL

B

Yep, Been lost and executed to perfection what Pat Mcmanus called the FBLP (Full Bore Linear Panic) which eventually morphed into the SMP (Stationary Modified Panic). It seems I, like Mcmanus, have a gift for such things. I would suggest you read "A Fine and Pleasant Misery" It's amazing how often the thought occurs to me as I read his hilarious stories, "Yep, been there, done that".

Twice i've been "turnded around".

Once was on the ridges at my moms homestead. A bunch of humps and hollers that make up a ridge system. It was snowing and the fog was at treetop level. I was jumping Grouse and re-jumping them so i was paying more attention to them than where i was . After alittle while, i came across some boot prints and thought, i'm not alone and he's heading for my truck. WRONG, lol.
I followed my own footprints around a knob until i realized what was going on.

Second time was in the "kettle" between two mountains. We were driving what we called the front mountain. Some other gang started a drive on the other mountain at the same time. I flanked the wrong drive.
Same deal, low overhead and everything looked the same, nothing but mountain laurel in front of me, lol.

Never spent the night but once I searched for a log to cross a creek until about ten oclock. Finally found a different log. I can get lost easily.

I’ve honestly never been lost in the woods, but put me in a shopping mall and I have trouble finding the door . Every time !

Been turned around but never lost in the mts.

The only place I get lost is in casinos and at IKEA; but they're designed to be confusing.

BTW, I don't make it a habit of going to casinos, but have found myself wandering around in one or two while at SCI conventions. They are downright scary; I've often wondered how I'd find my way out of one during a fire.

Buddies got lost in a cave years ago. Flashlights died, starting burning wrappers and lint from pockets, talked about loved ones, the whole deal. They were in there over 10hrs. Lost and set in the dark for 7!! Made local news

No kidding hey hahaha especially the guy that said he was turned around "for 3 or 4 days" haha

I've never spent the night in the woods but on one occasion in the fog ended up on the wrong side of a mtn on a road I thought was where I wanted to be (tried doing a loop back to the truck) and it dead ended ... which it shouldn't have haha just back tracked to the truck that time by landmarks

Another time my buddy and I lost the blazes on the trees on a 2 hr hike into a cabin at 11pm in the dark .... that was a hoot haha. all kinds of eyes staring at us from our headlamps and a screech owl making a heck of a racket and making us think it was a cougar at first. that time we circled until we picked up the trail again.

I know I'm not smart for it but I've never owned a gps and rarely taken compass either. I just make sure i have some maps on me and go by landmarks... a compass did save my butt one time... I had unknowingly turned north instead of east. checked my compass, walked 100 yards and found the pond. If i had missed it.....suffice to say... it would have sucked haha

Even here in this civilized area we have had that happen. One deer hunter disappeared in the Deadstream Swamp about 28 years back....still in there. The farthest straight-line across that swamp is no more than 8 miles. Just last fall a couple people disappeared in the same area....this couple has yet to be seen. Foul play is expected to have played a hand in their disappearance.
Back 40+ years ago I was working at a lodge in the bush near Goldrock, Ontario(about three year around residents at that time). Back then it was very isolated country. A First Nations fishing guide from a neighboring lodge had wandered off into the bush the season before. He'd been drinking and was agitated according to the lodge owners. That next summer, when I was there, there was a team of 4 Ministry of Geology (?) geologists mapping the area and they found a skull off in the bush many miles from where the guide had runn oft. At first they thought it was something really old, but apon closer examination they found a set of dentures and some clothing pieces that proved the guide was missing no longer. That was a stroke of needle-in-the-haystack luck for that guys family.

All I had to do was look down,and there I was standing in a pair of boots on a piece of ground, so I knew where I was.However ,the rest of the world may have been temporarily spatially displaced!Some things are a matter of perspective.

I wouldn't say lost but couldn't see my way out. Was tracking a bear years ago that my father had shot with a bow and it got dark. After an hour into it our flash lights went dead and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. We made it out but I think we tripped over every tree and twig before we found where we were suppose to be hours later.

The most scary time ever in my life!!!! I walked for what seemed like hours but it was actually only about 13 min. Then I found the front door to the mall. THAT was scary - STILL have nightmares.

was lost one time. Southern IL. in an area I thought I knew well enough. If I hadn't relied on a compass I would have been fine. SERIOUSLY!!! In that area there are so many iron ore pits and what ever else to drive a compass nuts you simply can't rely on them. I came out on a rd. and got my bearings. I knew I would never get back to my truck before well after dark. Never got scared per say, but it was bad bad feeling.

Spent the night out in the timber once down in TN. too. Went coon hunting before a predicted storm which was not suppose to hit till after midnight. Well it hit about 7:30-8:00. Snowed so hard I couldn't see over 20-30 feet in any direction. I hunkered down a deep ditch, built a fire and stayed put. Next morning at daylight the snow had eased up enough for me to get to my truck. The wife and my Mom were furious, Dad wasn't to happy either but at least he understood what had happened.

I was squirrel hunting ,didn't leave the woods until dark. I was in the Black Warrior National Forest,remote ,few roads ,anyway I turned down a ridge which I
Should have been ten minutes from my truck but two hours later I finally got to my truck.
The ridge was one ridge to early. So I walked down to the creek ,then back to the road and up the road to my truck.
And it was pouring rain during this hike.
From then on I took my compass..

i've walked 10 miles on a 5 mile road a time or tewe also.

I wasn't turned around, I gotta say I was lost. Hunting deer in the Adirondack mountains around Stillwater fire tower. Seen Fifth Creek Pond on my topo map and thought I'd head there.Found it fine. Ate lunch and enjoyed the scenery. On the way out I seen a few deer head up over the top. Went up over to try and get a look at them. Got over the top and looked around and ... uh oh! No compass and nothing but woods. Them woods is big.

Either 81 or 82 I went to a deer camp in the Pa mountains for the first time, got their Sunday, season opened Monday morning. I took off running the woods speed scouting. The valley (I was told) was 12 miles long & 8 miles wide. One road in, one road out. The cabin was right below the fire tower on the ridge, can't miss it. I got excited, I found a ridge over loaded with acorns and it looked like the old sheep grazing cartoons. Head down till I looked up & darn its dark. No fire tower, no stars. I can walk to either end of or either side of the valley and maybe be right OR I could be 6 or 4 miles off. Screw that, I had a day pack of candy, peanut butter cookies, water & 2 cheap tinfoil survival blankets. I found a place with less rocks & roots & built a cheery little fire , spread a blanket out & wrapped up in one. Spent the night reaching out every couple hours putting fuel on the fire and to be honest I considered it pretty darn peaceful. Sat around till daylight the next morning, spotted the fire tower and headed for it. I hit the cabin 1 1/2 hours after shooting light , figured I'd grab my rifle and run back over there and hope for late feeding activity. OMG! They were all standing around wringing their hands. They had called Susan (luckily) and reported me missing & that they were going to call search & research! Suze told them to leave me be, I was either fine, broke(in which case I'd darn sure make my location known come morning) or dead, which didn't matter. I grabbed the phone, called Suze "Hey Babe" "You good?" "ya" "Get lost again?" "Well, not really, you know" "I told them to leave you be, you were fine but I was up all night, you have your stuff with you?" "Always babe, $€¥# happens" "You coming in for lunch?" "Ya, probaly" "Call me, I'm going to sleep now and don't want to sleep all day" "You making me look like a sissy husband?" "Probably but I don't care, I don't want to sleep all day" . For you all that don't believe the accuracy of my memory, it's a blessing & a curse. I am afflicted with a memory for conversations that happened 50 years ago but I can't put pictures to them. Frustrating to say the least.

Once dragged a deer for hour an hour and then tripped over the gut pile in the dark. That was when I was a teenager. Moved to the UP and spent several nights in the woods, that is when I learned to use a compass in the 90's and solved my problems. I was used to smaller sections in lower Michigan and they were much large in UP. I usually was coon or bobcat hunting when I got lost in the night.

Went night fishing on a Friday nite, planned on sleeping in the truck. Bout 11:00 headed back to the truck, fog moved in, really couldn’ make our way back. Bout 1:00 am, came onto some dead trees we knew where we where, just tied off to them n hung a lantern till morning. Got soaked from the dew, not the best bed I’ve slept in either. Never saw fog that bad again.

Never had to spend the night, but I was elk hunting in some thick lodgepole woods and got completely turned around, during a torrential downpour of rain. The area I was in was a bout a 15 square mile triangle that was bordered by two rivers and a dirt forest road so I kept walking in the direction I figured the road to be. Turned out I was wrong and it was where one of the rivers was. I was able to determine which river it was based on the width (this one was consistently about 20 yards across, while the other was much smaller). Then used common sense on which way it was flowing to get myself oriented and walked toward where I now knew the road to be. Made it back to the truck where I met my dad about 3 hours after dark. He figured I was dealing with a dead elk and was there waiting for me. I had to break the news to him that I was just about as turned around as two coons in a gunny sack fightin' to get out.

Never spent the night but my darn truck moved a time or two and it took a while to find it.

I've been lost twice. Once in Seattle and once in Portland. Swore I would never go back

My son hadn't been married very long. Went elk hunting with my Dad. I can't bring myself to buy any license from Colorado Division of Wildlife so I went to help get meat out. No rifle. Opening evening we were watching an oak brush covered finger that drops down to a river. Saw cows but no antlers. When it got too dark to shoot we walked back to the pickup. 20-30 minutes I guess. Then 20-30 minutes back to the house. When we got there his new wife was in a panic. She was from the city and scared of the dark. Scared of the light too though in fairness if there were no streets within sight. Had called the sheriff when the sun dropped below the horizon to report us missing. Its a small rural part of the world and the sheriff recognized the name. Actually laughed and told her to call back in the morning. Now she's mad and scared. Scared a pack rat had ate us or something and scared something was going to eat her too even though she was in a house with my mom and my wife. Both who tried to calm her down and talk her out of calling the law. When we came in she was almost hysterical. Good news is they are no longer married and his ex wife is back where its safe in a large city.