A few years ago, I went hunting with
my cousin and brother-in-law . This was
supposed to be just a day trip. The
weather was amazing and it seemed like a great idea at the time. We packed our guns and ammo, got in the SUV,
and headed off toward the mountains. As
we climbed higher and higher in altitude in the mountains of Ogden Utah, I
noticed more snow had accumulated here than I had previously thought. I remembered that my boots were fairly
waterproof; however, I had only brought a black leather jacket to keep me
warm. I wasn’t wearing a hat, gloves or
any sort of thermal wear. To my
knowledge this was going to be a short trip, so I did not worry about it. After a two hour drive, we finally reached
our destination. As I stepped out of the
car, I noticed that the terrain was rough, the hills were steep and completely
covered in at least a foot of snow.
Moments later, we grabbed our small amount of hunting gear and began our
descent into the woods. I remember
looking back several times during our hike and thinking to myself that the car,
which was parked at the top of the hill, was getting more difficult to see from
where we were at.
After several hours of hiking, I
began to feel a nagging pain in my right knee.
This was a level of pain that I had never felt before in that area. As the hike continued, the pain got worse and
worse. I mentioned this to my
brother-in-law and cousin several times, but they were so engulfed in the task
at hand that they did not seem to be listening.
Looking into the sky, I began to notice that the sun was getting much
closer to dissolving behind the mountains, and the winds were picking up
greatly. The light was dying, and the
car was getting harder to see from where we were at. None of us had any camping gear, or even
gloves for that matter. Under these
conditions, I decided that I needed to start heading back, otherwise I was not
going to be able to make it. I felt like
I had an ice pick sticking out of my knee cap, and by this time was barely able
to bend it at all. I informed my
companions of our situation; I was going back, and they were more than welcome
to join. They told me they would be
right behind me. Unfortunately for me,
this was not the case.
Less than an hour later I found
myself separated from my companions, lost in the woods, in over foot of snow
with no flashlight and the sun all but gone.
I had no way of keeping warm, and the temperature was quickly dropping
well below freezing. At this point, I
was reduced to a stiff legged hobble.
Because of the lack of light, I also found that I could no longer see
where the car had been. After a time, I
began to call out to my cousin and brother-in-law in hopes they would be able
to hear me and follow my voice. Because
of the wind, trees and the canyon, my voice was neither loud enough, nor could
be carried in the direction that it needed to in order to reach my
companions. I began to sit on my rear
and scoot my way back down the canyon in hopes of finding a path, river or a
spot that I recognized from the hike earlier that day. Through the stress, frustration, exertion and
fear I began to sweat profusely. The
more I perspired, the colder I became, and could feel my teeth begin to
chatter. At this point, I decided to stop
and pray about what I needed to do in order to make it through the night. How was I going to stay warm till daylight,
and how could I protect myself if something dangerous came along? In the silence I remembered two things. The first was from the show Man vs Wild. I remembered that when you are cold and
sweating you needed to unzip your jacket to let the sweat evaporate. Doing so would actually warm you up in the
long run. I did this immediately and
after a short while began to feel my temperature rise. The second thing I remembered was that the
road ran along the mountain above me. No
matter which way I went, as long as it was up, I would eventually make it to a
road and would hopefully be able to determine where the car was from that
point. I slowly got up, and with teeth
grit and determination in my mind, I
continued my climb up the mountain. In
the black night, I used my frozen hands as leverage to lift me up the steeper
inclines. Through fog and blinding snow
I saw two headlight. A car! My spirits sank when I realized it wasn't the one
I'd road in on. From their warm vehicle, the people inside pointed to my right
and informed me there were two guys hanging out in their car waited for
someone, maybe they were who I was looking for. Twenty long minutes later, I
came upon that car, my cousin and brother-in-law. I crawled inside, removed my freezing clothes
and curled up in the heat with a blanket on.
I learned several very important
lessons that night. One comes from the
Old Boy Scouts adage, “Always be Prepared”.
Never again will I venture into the cold without plenty of gear, warm
clothes, GPS and a flashlight. The
second lesson I learned is to never leave someone behind. No matter the situation, we always stick
together. I needed my companions to stay with me and they did not. When I even suspect someone needs help, I
will never leave them behind or let them leave without me. The third lesson I learned is to always watch
Man vs. Wild! This show possibly saved
my life that night. When I travel in the
future, I will find an episode that pertains to my location and start watching
and studying the things I see and learn.
To be prepared is to survive.
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