On 5/19/08 my father died suddenly from a heart attack, being that we were very close and the last place we fished together was Wilcox Lake, a place he grew up near and hunted/fished as a boy, I take a yearly trip back there that same weekend each year.
On last years trip I hiked into Wilcox and waited for the clouds to clear so I could see the top of the New Lake Mt range. I attempted to bushwack over the notch and down to the pond to do some fishing, however I went NW instead of N and ended up coming to a small brook on the backside of the mountains.
According to my topo map (partial map that I printed out ahead of time) the brook flowed out of another area (not on my map) and New lake. So I followed upstream looking for where the 2 converged, planning on staying to the right of the brook and coming to New Lake as the map indicated. The map however was wrong in that the outlet of New Lake is underground not above as I was looking to find, and therefore I missed the lake completely.
Because I was fishing along the way and sight seeing, I didn't realize how far I had walked until I came to a marsh. I was disgusted that 'this pond was just a marsh'. Looking at my watch I realized it was nearing 1 pm and I had been hiking since 9:30am when I left the shoreline of Wilcox.
So I decided to head back over the mountain towards the truck, only to realize that I was lost. I came out to what I believed to be Stony Creek and decided to follow that as I was parked near the Moosewood camp along the shoreline.
I walked for hours thru marsh, hemlock thicket, huge blowdowns, etc,..
As it neared 7pm I realized I wasn't going to make it out and decided I had better make a fire and get some rest as I could barley lift my legs anymore and was starting to stare/zone out. Like a rookie I had only brought a bag of beef jerky and a few bottles of water, which I had already consumed on the 80 degree day. I gathered a few bottles of water from the stream and placed the plastic bottles near the fire, close enough to get them hot enough to boil the water without melting the bottles ( thank you Survivorman), it tasted horrible but it was wet.
I was very exhausted, so much so that I could barely gather some tinder for a fire. I put on my rubber rain suit to try to retain body heat and passed out asleep. I woke after dark and mustered what strength I had to gather some more wood for the long night ahead. The rain suit worked well to insulate me as I lay on the ground. However I could hear a black bear calling its way along the opposite side of the creek and I didn't sleep much more than 20 minutes or so at a time. Being on blood pressure medication and having not brought any with me, I had to focus on breathing techniques to try to control my heart rate due to the stress of the situation.
As I lay on the ground, tending the fire every 30 minutes to keep it burning( hopefully as a deterrent to wildlife?!?) and clutching my pack knife (why I'm not really sure), I kept thinking of my wife at home worried sick. I told her I was going hiking for the morning, she had no idea where and I had never intended to be gone all night.
Along about midnight I had dozed off and was awoke by the sound of a large animal crashing through the trees VERY close by. I jumped to my feet and started shouting and grabbed every stick of wood I could find and threw it on the fire. Whatever it was turned away, however as you can imagine there was NO sleeping after that!
I got the fire stoked up enough to see a little ways away and gathered as much firewood as I could and lay back down.
Approximately 2-3 am it started getting considerably colder and then the lightning started flashing and the thunder began. I thought 'perfect'...so I tucked my hands and head inside my rain suit as best possible and cuddled up as close to the fire as I safely could and lay there thru the rain storm. I actually fell asleep for awhile and woke just as the it was getting daylight. I lay there for a few minutes, thankful that the fire was still burning. After it was light enough to see, I gathered enough wood to get a good fire going and warmed myself and tried to dry off some.
I found some more beef jerky and sipped some more water, put the fire out and set off in what I hoped was the right direction for the truck. It was about 5:30am and I walked for another 1.5 hrs until I could make out the roof of the Moosewood camp across the creek.
It was such a welcome sight that I didn't bother trekking the additional half mile downstream to the cable crossing. Rather, I forded the stream, chest deep directly across and walked the last half mile or so back to the truck dripping wet.
I was never so thankful to see my vehicle as that moment!
I stripped my wet boots and socks off and drove as swiftly as I could to my grandmothers house in Stony Creek to use the phone and call home.
I must say I have one of the best wives a man can have. She never got upset with me for the stress I put upon her. She was simply glad I was o.k. and home safely. She had alerted the State Police who in turn had alerted the Forest Rangers, to which she immediately called them to inform them that I was out of the woods.
In talking to my uncle, who teaches 4H and is also a member of the Moosewood hunting club, he explained to me a few of my mistakes, not having a full map of the area, not prepping myself for the possibility of the scenario I had just gone through. He also said that the important thing was that I kept my head, applied what I had learned in hunter education class and walked myself out of the woods and was standing in his living room talking about it. Some people don't make it that far. According to his topo maps of the area I had walked clear to Moshers Vly and back around nearly 17miles of some of the nastiest walking conditions I have ever experienced!
I know go to much further lengths in preparation for hikes even just the short day hikes. 2 day supply of necessary meds, camp saw, fire starting/ water purifying supplies, rain suit, 2 bags of beef jerky, water, GPS, extra batteries, map, and clear directions as to where I am planning on going.
On last years trip I hiked into Wilcox and waited for the clouds to clear so I could see the top of the New Lake Mt range. I attempted to bushwack over the notch and down to the pond to do some fishing, however I went NW instead of N and ended up coming to a small brook on the backside of the mountains.
According to my topo map (partial map that I printed out ahead of time) the brook flowed out of another area (not on my map) and New lake. So I followed upstream looking for where the 2 converged, planning on staying to the right of the brook and coming to New Lake as the map indicated. The map however was wrong in that the outlet of New Lake is underground not above as I was looking to find, and therefore I missed the lake completely.
Because I was fishing along the way and sight seeing, I didn't realize how far I had walked until I came to a marsh. I was disgusted that 'this pond was just a marsh'. Looking at my watch I realized it was nearing 1 pm and I had been hiking since 9:30am when I left the shoreline of Wilcox.
So I decided to head back over the mountain towards the truck, only to realize that I was lost. I came out to what I believed to be Stony Creek and decided to follow that as I was parked near the Moosewood camp along the shoreline.
I walked for hours thru marsh, hemlock thicket, huge blowdowns, etc,..
As it neared 7pm I realized I wasn't going to make it out and decided I had better make a fire and get some rest as I could barley lift my legs anymore and was starting to stare/zone out. Like a rookie I had only brought a bag of beef jerky and a few bottles of water, which I had already consumed on the 80 degree day. I gathered a few bottles of water from the stream and placed the plastic bottles near the fire, close enough to get them hot enough to boil the water without melting the bottles ( thank you Survivorman), it tasted horrible but it was wet.
I was very exhausted, so much so that I could barely gather some tinder for a fire. I put on my rubber rain suit to try to retain body heat and passed out asleep. I woke after dark and mustered what strength I had to gather some more wood for the long night ahead. The rain suit worked well to insulate me as I lay on the ground. However I could hear a black bear calling its way along the opposite side of the creek and I didn't sleep much more than 20 minutes or so at a time. Being on blood pressure medication and having not brought any with me, I had to focus on breathing techniques to try to control my heart rate due to the stress of the situation.
As I lay on the ground, tending the fire every 30 minutes to keep it burning( hopefully as a deterrent to wildlife?!?) and clutching my pack knife (why I'm not really sure), I kept thinking of my wife at home worried sick. I told her I was going hiking for the morning, she had no idea where and I had never intended to be gone all night.
Along about midnight I had dozed off and was awoke by the sound of a large animal crashing through the trees VERY close by. I jumped to my feet and started shouting and grabbed every stick of wood I could find and threw it on the fire. Whatever it was turned away, however as you can imagine there was NO sleeping after that!
I got the fire stoked up enough to see a little ways away and gathered as much firewood as I could and lay back down.
Approximately 2-3 am it started getting considerably colder and then the lightning started flashing and the thunder began. I thought 'perfect'...so I tucked my hands and head inside my rain suit as best possible and cuddled up as close to the fire as I safely could and lay there thru the rain storm. I actually fell asleep for awhile and woke just as the it was getting daylight. I lay there for a few minutes, thankful that the fire was still burning. After it was light enough to see, I gathered enough wood to get a good fire going and warmed myself and tried to dry off some.
I found some more beef jerky and sipped some more water, put the fire out and set off in what I hoped was the right direction for the truck. It was about 5:30am and I walked for another 1.5 hrs until I could make out the roof of the Moosewood camp across the creek.
It was such a welcome sight that I didn't bother trekking the additional half mile downstream to the cable crossing. Rather, I forded the stream, chest deep directly across and walked the last half mile or so back to the truck dripping wet.
I was never so thankful to see my vehicle as that moment!
I stripped my wet boots and socks off and drove as swiftly as I could to my grandmothers house in Stony Creek to use the phone and call home.
I must say I have one of the best wives a man can have. She never got upset with me for the stress I put upon her. She was simply glad I was o.k. and home safely. She had alerted the State Police who in turn had alerted the Forest Rangers, to which she immediately called them to inform them that I was out of the woods.
In talking to my uncle, who teaches 4H and is also a member of the Moosewood hunting club, he explained to me a few of my mistakes, not having a full map of the area, not prepping myself for the possibility of the scenario I had just gone through. He also said that the important thing was that I kept my head, applied what I had learned in hunter education class and walked myself out of the woods and was standing in his living room talking about it. Some people don't make it that far. According to his topo maps of the area I had walked clear to Moshers Vly and back around nearly 17miles of some of the nastiest walking conditions I have ever experienced!
I know go to much further lengths in preparation for hikes even just the short day hikes. 2 day supply of necessary meds, camp saw, fire starting/ water purifying supplies, rain suit, 2 bags of beef jerky, water, GPS, extra batteries, map, and clear directions as to where I am planning on going.
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