This Simple Error Has Been Leading to a LOT of Rescues
There is always a major uptick in unnecessary rescues this time of year. These shoulder seasons, especially the fall, lead to many people getting in over their head when they set off for a walk in the woods. The days are short and the weather can turn quickly. But as I have been reading the reports of the rescues going on here in the north east, there has been one simple mistake that has been a factor in many of these incidents.
That one error is that people are not bringing a headlamp and they are getting caught in the woods after sunset. People think that because they are only planning a short hike that they don’t need a headlamp, but it only takes one mistake to turn a short hike into a long hike which can keep you in the woods after dark.
We refer to this situation, as the unexpected overnight decision point. When you are stuck in the woods after dark, you can either choose to continue hiking, if it is safe to do so, or tuck in for a night in the woods. When you don’t have a headlamp with you, you really limit your ability to safely continue hiking. It is easy to get lost at night, even with a headlamp, without a proper light, walking off the trail is a real possibility which now has made a bad situation ten times worse!
Additionally I have been reading that people have been trying to use the light on their phone which runs your battery down. Many of these people have also been using their phone as their sole means of navigation and communication so killing their battery again just compounds their situation. These are also examples of single points of failure and an example of the bad decision spiral, both of which we have written about recently.
If you are interested in digging deeper into rescue reports, we will be starting to discuss these in our private facebook group for Prepared Hiker System students. Here are the links to a couple of articles about recent rescues that we discussed.
