Northern Saskatchewan 2014 - Lunches and Getting Lost




A dreary rainy day where the lunch fire was a welcome rest stop.  I took a "shortcut" back to camp, that proved to be a "longcut".  There was no sun visible all day, and without checking my compass because I "knew the way" (just like a typical man not asking for directions), I headed off.  At one point when I made my way through thick brush and spruce trees, I climbed a hill to see a long picturesque lake in the distance.  I think I stated how loud "Where the heck am I?"  I took off my pack and got out my map and compass.  The problem with a map and compass is if you do not recognize a landmark there is no way of figuring out where you are.  I pondered the situation for several minutes.  It is already getting close to nightfall.  In my mind I am backtracking where I travelled and the possibilities.  A number of thoughts occurred including how and where I would set up camp for the night.  I always carry a backpack with gear and clothing to be relatively comfortable if required.  I have had this feeling of concern before, and can appreciate how easy it would be to panic.  Twice, I thought I had figured out which way to go and headed off, but stopped in short order each time to ponder my situation more.  Finally I thought I knew which way to go, and headed in that direction.  Within about 30 minutes I reached an area that I recognized, and took a long way back to camp.  Night was falling when I arrived.  For the next two days, what happened replayed in my mind as I tried to figure out where I went and how I made the mistake.  To the best of my knowledge, as difficult as it is for me to believe, I took the completely wrong direction at some point.  The lake I did not identify was recognizable later, but at the hilltop from which I overlooked it, I had never seen that part of the lake before.

The moral of this story is that because the sun was not visible, I should have used my compass initially when I got into unfamiliar terrain.  I also could have returned the way I came if I had done so from the lunch spot.  It would be helpful to have a GPS to plot latitude and longitude on the topographic map, although the device is dependent on electronics and technology that could fail.  I would never give up my compass.