by JonetCol » Sat Mar 28, 2020 5:09 pm
I realise some of this overlaps with 'daftest thing....' but having a first experience recently I'd be interested to know of others experiences..
I was in the relatively benign Cheviots Thursday gone (prior to HMG ban on even solo hillwalking) doing a walk I'd done a couple of times previously. About an hour in, at the top of my second hill, the forecast 'light cloud' turned into pea soup. Literally no visibility beyond a couple of feet (mine included) in any direction. Thinking I knew the route (pathless by the way) I naively carried on. After about a half mile I ended up in a patch of scree which I was completely unfamiliar with. Clearly not where I thought I was (euphemism for lost) I had to take stock. With no GPS, I was dependent on compass.
I was convinced I was travelling South, but the red needle indicated it was North. I simply didn't believe it. Too tired to compose a complaint to the Silvas company - and too arrogant to believe my sense of direction could be wrong - I paused to ponder anxiously what to do next. Several worried thoughts about having to dial 999 etc raced through my head. They included trying to console myself that of the people rescuing me, at least the person at the feet end of my stretcher would be the requisite 2 metres away (I'm 6' 2"). Mostly I was terrified of the embarrassment to me, not to mention the strain on the rescue teams.
I decided to try to retrace my steps, but in the pathless terrain even that was not straightforward, with no landmark to pick out. Nevertheless off I ventured.
I eventually came to a pedestrian gate immediately after a ford in a narrow stream. It seemed familiar, but aware of 'mirage' thinking I was wary of reaching hasty conclusions. The pink string looped around the gate , though familiar, won't have been exclusive to that gate, but there was a distinct familiarity (seriously) about the chain and the bent nail it was hooked on to, that led me to think I'd arrived, purely by accident at base of my third hill. It turns out I had.
I completed the walk with no more trouble. In all I was only delayed by 20-30 minutes, but it was an anxious little spell. I now realise that I got into into my predicament after walking about half a mile in a semi-circle , thinking I'd gone in a fairly in a straight line, only to face Nort instead of South - and the compass was of course accurate.
L Tolstoy