[pct-l] SOBO

[Austin Williams]

With all due respect, I've done multiple back country bailouts and the
method does work.
Yes, you very often will run into waterfalls and dense brush (as I did), but
the water does lead to civilisation in all but rare cases).

The brush does get very dense (very often in fact), and you have to decide
how to proceed when you're in the situation.  And you likely *will* run into
several waterfalls (as I did) and you have to make decisions there too.

Also, when following the water you'll notice a canyon begining to form
around you.  You have to decide whether to stay with the water as the canyon
walls grow higher and higher (usually a bad idea) or stay on the high
ground, keeping the sound of the rushing water within earshot and continuing
to travel in the same direction as the water.

Of course, if this isn't obvious to someone attempting a bailout... they
clearly aren't the kind of person that should be attempting a bailout.

When you attempt a bailout you are taking your life into your own hands to a
degree most people never even contemplate.  Depending on where you are when
you decide to bailout, you can find yourself in situations where -- if you
were to die -- it would be extreamly unlikely that anyone would ever even
find your body.  It's something you have to consider before making that
decision.

It's not a game or a walk in the park, that's for sure.  I remember in one
of my "waterfall situations" where I sat for several minutes thining about
the risk/rewards of chancing a climb down the waterfall.  I'm a fairly
decent rock climber  - that's the only reason I was even considering it.
After all was said and done, I decided to chance climbing down.  I made it
down without injury.  Someone else in my situation may have made a different
choice... but so long as he kept following the water, he would have made it
out too (though along a different path).

Admittedley, following the water isn't a silver bullet.  But it's pretty
damn close.  There are situations where it can lead you astray.  In the
desert, for example, flows of water can thin out and dry up before they
reach a road or civilisation.  But from Kennedy Meadows North along the PCT,
You'd be hard pressed to find a counter example to the rule of thumb.  And
if you do try it in the desert and it doesn't work, well... at least you
have access to water  :)

Tortise mentions several good points.  But I want to point out that when you
are lost you need to stop, sit down, and think.  You need to check in with
yourself and decide whether you are going to do a baliout (take your life
into your own hands) or wait to be rescued.  For most people, waiting to be
rescued is the safer course.  For people with strong backcountry
navigational skills, primitive living/survival skills, and a strong sense of
selfcnfidence and self-reliance.... doing a bailout may be an option they
consider.

When I find myself off my map (whether on purpose or on accident), or
disoriented, or having long-since lost the trail due to snow or over growth,
whatever.....  I just remind myself that I'm homosapien (animal), and that
homosapiens lived and walked about and navigated the world for hundreds of
thousands of years without streets and roadsigns.  I remind myself that -
believe it or not - it is possible (though more difficult) to get from point
A to point B without a trail.
It is also possible to set a bearing and head towards it.  Some people are
confident doing that, others are not.

Anyway, I digress.   *IF* you get lost and *IF* you decide to do a bailout,
THEN following flowing water *IS* a great rule of thumb for finding your way
to civilization.  It's not perfect, but then... if you expect it to be then
you probably shouldn't attempting a bailout to begin with.

Just my two cents.  I forget sometimes that most people never venture off
the trail, and so don't fully understand the dangers (and wonders) that lie
beyond it.  For those of us that are comfortable off the trail, we can
sometimes forget that other people aren't.

Austin Williams

www.PlanYourHike.com <http://www.planyourhike.com/>
Info on PCT gear, resupply points, maps, movies, etc.

"*Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a
fruit salad.*"
-Proverb



On Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 10:53 AM, Tortoise <Tortoise73 at charter.net> wrote:

> It is dangerous advice to just find flowing water and then follow the water
> downhill . . .
>
> 1) the stream may go down thru water falls and steep canyons or just thru
> dense brush that are very difficult to impossible to follow without a trail.
> Maybe this is what got John Donovan.
>
> 2) talking to some of the outdoorsmen around here, one is better off going
> uphill as there is likely logging roads there.
>
> 3) better go to a clearing where you can  be spotted from the air and send
> out SOSes.
>
> 4) at least have area maps with potential bail out routes (roads, side
> trails to trailheads) shown. the WP guidebooks also contain road and trail
> info for bailouts. Keep track of where you are on your maps/by your
> guidebooks.
>
> 5)  if not the above camp where you can be seen and stay put until others
> realize you are missing / or other travelers come across you. In fact your
> first action should be to stop and think, let any panic subside, and coolly
> consider your options.
>
> Tortoise
>
> <> Because truth matters.  <>
>
>
> On 03/08/11 10:05, Austin Williams wrote:
>
> If you decide not to bring one then make sure you know how to do a
> backcountry bail-out (in general, find flowing water, follow it forever
> until you find a road, follow road to civilisation.  Works everywhere except
> Australia and remote parts of Canada and Russia).
>
> Tortoise
>
> <> Because truth matters.  <>
>
>
> On 03/08/11 10:05, Austin Williams wrote:
>
> If you decide not to bring one then make sure you know how to do a
> backcountry bail-out (in general, find flowing water, follow it forever
> until you find a road, follow road to civilisation.  Works everywhere except
> Australia and remote parts of Canada and Russia).
>
>
>