How dangerous is it to be BiGFooting alone?

[SWWASAS]

I had a  similar situation happen to me in my research area.   I had come out nearly to the trailhead after spending the day.     I had not seen anyone all day.  A guy on a mountain bike came off the mountain behind me and hailed me down.       That surprised me because the trail is pretty difficult on foot and I had never seen anyone on a mountain bike traverse it.      He asked me where he was and how far away the trailhead was that he had left his car at.  It was 7.5 miles back over the mountain on the trail and was about 12 miles on roads.    He did not want to ride over the mountain again.    On the roads,  his route would start out on a forest road, transition to three different county roads, and take several turns towards the parking lot.     I asked him how he managed to get where he had no idea where he was.   He was supposed to meet some friends to ride with and they did not show up.   He struck out on his own without a map or any clue where the trail would take him.   He must have thought it was a loop. .     I tried to explain the road route back and got a look that told me he would never remember it.     He then asked if I had anything to eat or drink.  He had brought none.     I gave him a power bar and what water I had left and he left me on the bike.    I got back to my truck loaded up,   and passed him grinding away down the forest road looking very tired.   .    I went past him and just knew he would get more lost than he was.  I stopped and offered him a ride to where his car was parked since I had to go past there anyway.   I have no idea if he had any clue how lost he was and learned anything from it.   I hope so.  

[BlackRockBigfoot]

@SWWASAS

At least your guy seemed nice and appreciative of your help.

 

The guy who we dealt with was a total jerk.  Mad at world for his mistake.  For a few seconds I thought that I was going to have to choke him out and leave him in the woods unconscious with his ticked off girlfriend.  She never said a word to us, just bickered with him.

 

On a side of on the dangers of going out alone or unprepared...

 

 

My girlfriend is really into ESEE knives, and she talks to the guys who own the company a bit on social media.  Those guys have a top notch survival school and also do search and rescue training.  

 

We saw them at the last Blade show and chatted with them for awhile.  They know that she has family in the Haywood County area of North Carolina and told her that they had been spending a lot of time in that neck of the woods.  I was surprised by that and asked them why.

 

According to them, the explosive growth of the Asheville area and its accompanying 'hipster hiker' culture translated in the Haywood County search and rescue team receiving more call outs than any other team in the lower 48.  People move there from urban areas, immediately embrace the hipster hiker look, and proceed to get lost with all of their expensive new gear.  

 

They had been training SAR folks at one of the college's up there as well as trying to assist them as able.  Most of the people in need of rescue came over from Asheville to hit the woods up there, and immediately got lost. 

 

When I mentioned something about personal locator beacons they said that those things were a blessing and a curse to SAR. Yes, they saved lives, but many people would trigger the PLB when they got tired or got a headache or something. 

 

They said that the county was having a hard time financially with all of the SAR, seeing as they didn't have the tax base of Asheville but had to spend money constantly rescuing their people.  Like most places, they don't charge people for search and rescue.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by BlackRockBigfoot

[Catmandoo]

18 minutes ago, BlackRockBigfoot said:

When I mentioned something about personal locator beacons they said that those things were a blessing and a curse to SAR. Yes, they saved lives, but many people would trigger the PLB when they got tired or got a headache or something.

 

The worst false alarm that I have read about was in the Grand Canyon. A SAR team went to a 'rescue'.  The PLB was activated because the store bought water packets tasted salty. I never learned if the tourists were billed.

[wiiawiwb]

I think there a fair number of resources out there for someone to learn about wilderness navigation and survival training. In the modern age of the internet and social media,  there are a number of groups that offer such training. There may local Meetup groups that provide a venue for like minded people to share and learn. There are also schools that people can sign up for courses. Tom Brown, which has been around for a while, is one, Dave Canterbury of Dual Survival fame, is another, along with other regional groups and schools

 

At a minimum, there are an almost endless number of YT videos out there that demonstrate everything from how to read a map, use a compass, and how to start a fire using a friction method.  One can spend lots of time practicing those techniques and learning a lot. There is no reason to enter the woods unprepared unless you are with a group all of whom are complete novices.

 

Years ago, I took both survival and wilderness navigation training. It was a a huge confidence boost.  You knew you could make a shelter, start a fire, and survive the elements using just a knife, flint, steel, map and compass. Bring along a Bic lighter and a 1-mil painters tarp, and you think you were staying at the Waldorf.

 

Sadly, nowadays people think their phone will guide them, provide information, and allow them to be in touch with the outside world.....until tragedy strikes and their phone dies or breaks. Now, they're in deep trouble. That doesn't have to happen and learning the basics can go a long way to building the confidence that allows you to, step by step, learn how to survive the elements.

 

https://www.trackerschool.com/

 

https://www.selfrelianceoutfitters.com/collections/the-best-survival-training

 

https://wildernessawareness.org/

 

https://www.boss-inc.com/

 

http://mtnscoutsurvival.com/survival-class-catalog.php

 

https://www.exploretruenorth.com/

 

https://www.earthskillsllc.com/class-register.html

[BlackRockBigfoot]

15 minutes ago, wiiawiwb said:

I think there a fair number of resources out there for someone to learn about wilderness navigation and survival training. In the modern age of the internet and social media,  there are a number of groups that offer such training. There may local Meetup groups that provide a venue for like minded people to share and learn. There are also schools that people can sign up for courses. Tom Brown, which has been around for a while, is one, Dave Canterbury of Dual Survival fame, is another, along with other regional groups and schools

 

At a minimum, there are an almost endless number of YT videos out there that demonstrate everything from how to read a map, use a compass, and how to start a fire using a friction method.  One can spend lots of time practicing those techniques and learning a lot. There is no reason to enter the woods unprepared unless you are with a group all of whom are complete novices.

 

Years ago, I took both survival and wilderness navigation training. It was a a huge confidence boost.  You knew you could make a shelter, start a fire, and survive the elements using just a knife, flint, steel, map and compass. Bring along a Bic lighter and a 1-mil painters tarp, and you think you were staying at the Waldorf.

 

Sadly, nowadays people think their phone will guide them, provide information, and allow them to be in touch with the outside world.....until tragedy strikes and their phone dies or breaks. Now, they're in deep trouble. That doesn't have to happen and learning the basics can go a long way to building the confidence that allows you to, step by step, learn how to survive the elements.

 

https://www.trackerschool.com/

 

https://www.selfrelianceoutfitters.com/collections/the-best-survival-training

 

https://wildernessawareness.org/

 

https://www.boss-inc.com/

 

http://mtnscoutsurvival.com/survival-class-catalog.php

 

https://www.exploretruenorth.com/

 

https://www.earthskillsllc.com/class-register.html

Land navigation is a lost art.

[Huntster]

3 hours ago, SWWASAS said:

I had a  similar situation happen to me in my research area........

 

Yup. It's common.

 

Many years ago I was moose hunting in my father-in-law's favorite meadow. When it was almost dark I headed back to the jeep trail. It's a thick forest. I lost the footpath through the grass in the dark, but I knew the direction. Not on the path, the terrain was tough. I broke out on the trail in complete surprise because I couldn't see it in the waning light and in all that thick vegetation. Now it didn't matter. I couldn't get lost. A half mile later, I hear men talking off to my left. I stop and listen. They're obviously lost, and only yards off the trail. One was actually crying. I spoke up, and they started yelling for help. They followed my voice to the trail. The one crying had hurt his leg. His partner and I put him between us and we helped him out to their rig........a mile down this rutted, muddy trail, in the dark.

 

None of us had a flashlight. Just rifles.

 

Dumb........

 

 

2 hours ago, Catmandoo said:

 

The worst false alarm that I have read about was in the Grand Canyon. A SAR team went to a 'rescue'.  The PLB was activated because the store bought water packets tasted salty. I never learned if the tourists were billed.

 

Hey, Cat, did you hear about the deer hunter on an island near Juneau who lit his PLB on the beach, and when the Coast Guard showed up, he asked if they had an operating lighter so he could light his cigarette?

 

No, this isn't a joke. True story, bro.........

[Catmandoo]

6 hours ago, Huntster said:

Hey, Cat, did you hear about the deer hunter on an island near Juneau who lit his PLB on the beach, and when the Coast Guard showed up, he asked if they had an operating lighter so he could light his cigarette?

 

No, this isn't a joke. True story, bro.........

 

Did not hear that one........natural selection in the works.  You need to add the Brown bear factor in Alaska. A deer hunter on an Alaskan Island is a soon to be bear toy.

[SWWASAS]

19 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

Sadly, nowadays people think their phone will guide them, provide information, and allow them to be in touch with the outside world.....until tragedy strikes and their phone dies or breaks. Now, they're in deep trouble. That doesn't have to happen and learning the basics can go a long way to building the confidence that allows you to, step by step, learn how to survive the elements.

 

The Columbia River Gorge is a petri dish for getting lost for the Portland Oregon hikers.    It is close to town and easy to get to.   They had to close all trails to keep people from their normal hiking and getting lost during the Covid 19 thing.       Most often dead or out of service area cell phones are the excuse.     Commonly people leave too late in the day to get back before dark.     I think the only thing that can reduce that demonstrated idiocy is huge fines or charging for the search when poor or no planning,  lack of proper gear, and inadequate clothing is involved.    Word will get around that being stupid can be costly.     

[wiiawiwb]

I've been out alone hiking and bushwhacking a lot these past two weeks.  Yesterday, I hiked back to a location where I had a response wood knock to my knock a few years ago. It's in an area that is very secluded and difficult going as you're crossing a creek to get to the other side of a pond.  I put up a trailcam and will retrieve the card in two weeks to a month.

 

In that area, I did come across a 10" print which I thought might be a bear print but didn't see any claw marks.  I'll scout out the area in more detail when I return to retrieve the card.

 

[BlackRockBigfoot]

21 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

I've been out alone hiking and bushwhacking a lot these past two weeks.  Yesterday, I hiked back to a location where I had a response wood knock to my knock a few years ago. It's in an area that is very secluded and difficult going as you're crossing a creek to get to the other side of a pond.  I put up a trailcam and will retrieve the card in two weeks to a month.

 

In that area, I did come across a 10" print which I thought might be a bear print but didn't see any claw marks.  I'll scout out the area in more detail when I return to retrieve the card.

 

Man, that looks like an offset big toe to the top right of the track...

[NorthWind]

Looks like he dropped his sunglasses, too.

 

Interesting print. Quite narrow. Madison and I find narrow ones like that sometimes. We thing they might be female juveniles. but who knows?

[SWWASAS]

I have noticed footprints from Florida and Texas often have deformities.    Odd number of toes or physical deformities like this one.    I think the BF numbers are so few there they are getting a lot of genetic anomalies due to inbreeding.   If that is true,  they will die out first there before the rest of the country.  

[wiiawiwb]

I think it more likely a bear than a sasquatch. I decided to check the trailcam after only 7-10 days and put up another one that will video the area where this one is.  It's been a good location for me as it is secluded, next to this spot is a swamp, a large pond, and lots of forests and mountains. 

 

There's been activity in the area so I'll try this one for a few weeks then on to the my next place of interest which is about 10 miles from here.

[wiiawiwb]

On 5/22/2020 at 2:56 PM, BlackRockBigfoot said:

Man, that looks like an offset big toe to the top right of the track...

 

Excellent observation BRB because I noticed that too when I got down on my hands and knees and examined it closely.

[PNWexplorer]

Great stories in this thread!  

 

In most of my decades of exploring the woods, I have usually been alone.  Have never gotten lost and never been in danger.  Knock on wood.  But now that I'm older and not in as good of shape, and a bit smarter, I still go out alone, but am much better prepared than I was before.  The last few years I've had a great companion; a 100lb great dane/lab mix.  But, he's nearly 14 and has really gotten bad arthritis the past few months.  I took him out mushroom hunting a couple of months ago and he was barely able to make it back to the rig.  So now I'm alone, again.  When I first started dating my current girlfriend, she said she loved the outdoors and hiking.  I think we've gone three times the past year and she refuses to tent camp, lol.

 

Couple of years ago, me and my dog loaded up an old pop-up camper I had restored and found a nice secluded spot in Idaho.  Got all situated and firewood ready and decided to go for a short hike up the draw that we were camped at the base of.  My dog had declined to wander outside of camp and stayed close to the fire, which is odd for him.

 

About 50 yards up the game trail, my dog started going nuts, sniffing all around and marking territory every few feet.  I looked on the trail and found a very fresh pile of wolf scat and some prints.  Apparently, at least one wolf came down and scouted us out while I was busy setting up camp.  We only did a short hike and my dog was not cool with being more than 20 yards from me at all times.