Lost and Found

Q: Where are people most likely to get lost?

A: The Great Smokies

The online version of the August issue of Backpacker Magazine has an outstanding article that offers 33 essential tips to remember if you or your partner goes missing, including "ways to stay found," and what to do if you do become lost. I highly recommend reading this; whether you're a hiking newby or a grizzled outdoor veteran. Hey, everyone needs to brush up on this invaluable knowledge every now and then.

The magazine also published a pretty good video on how to get "Un-Lost" using a GPS and a topo map.

The typical person who gets lost is a male, age 38, hiking solo, during the months of July or August, in the mountains, and often lacking a map and/or compass.

Finally, Backpacker posted a very interesting Q & A with SAR Statistician Robert Koester. Koester has spent the past seven years creating the International Search and Rescue Database. With 50,000 documented incidents, it's the largest, and first, compendium of its kind in the world. He uses the data to analyze risk, and predict who will live, who will die, and, most importantly, where lost hikers may be found.




Further reading: Top 10 Items to have on a Day Hike


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

CMC Offers Map and Compass Course

The Carolina Mountain Club's biennial Map Course will be held on Saturday, April 17th. It will be a one-day course, half classroom, half fieldwork. New this year will be the coverage of fundamental GPS techniques.

Whether you have a GPS unit or not, this course will give you basic map-reading skills and the techniques needed to stay found.

Enrollment will be limited to 12 people. To enroll or learn more about the course, contact the instructor, Dave Wetmore at dwetmore@citcom.net or 828-884-7296


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.