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Two years ago I convinced my girlfriend to hike with me in Mt. Tamalpais
(Mount Tam), just north of San Francisco. We figured on a day hike,
and so we just tossed a few things into backpack, jumped into my 4x4,
and went up into the range and looked for a place to start hiking.
A while back, I'd been driving around the neighborhoods that bordered
the park, and had seen places along the street where people could just
park, lock the car, and start walking. When I saw those paths along
the residential roads I thought, well I've got to see where those go and
so, when my girlfriend agreed to go for a day hike, I suggested that
we start at one of those residential markers.
Now, don't get me wrong, I've had plenty of experience hiking and camping.
While in high school I joined some friends and a minister in what we
called our "Idaho Crags Expedition", spending about three weeks horseback
riding, hiking and camping. Since that time, I've taken some time off
here and there to teach people the methods of minimum impact camping
in the Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire,
rock-climbing techniques in Peru, and even some winter camping in the
German Alps. In other words, I wasn't a beginner when we decided to
go for that hike. And still, I failed to take seriously one of the
main things I used to tell people when I'd take them hiking most
hikers get hurt when they go out for a day hike unprepared. They figure
on a short trek up to a peak and back, and don't account for shifting
weather patterns, dried up streams, and the hunger pangs of walking
even just a few country miles.
Our hike started out pleasant enough after we parked, we just started
following a path up toward the highest peak we saw nearby. I had four
bottles of water in my backpack and my girlfriend had a few bananas
and GORP (good ole' raisins and peanuts) in hers. We got there around
noon, and expected to go up to the peak and be back before dusk. We
walked on up, saw a crumbling water tank, the remains of an old fence,
and followed what looked like a worn joggers path to the base of the
mountain.
For a couple hours we just followed the path around and around the mountain,
spiraling up toward the top. It seemed fine enough, but then I saw
this one path that just shot up straight through to the top of the
mountain. It was probably a maintenance trail, but it looked manageable
enough, so, after convincing my girlfriend that it would be a good
climb, and that we'd get a nice view of the bay, we decided to go up.
And up we went, up and up and up. We stopped briefly to take in the
sights, and have a light snack, and, when we finally neared the summit,
we realized that it was taking us much longer than we had expected
to get to the top. The sun was in decline, and the cool air was making
its way over the mountain. It was time to turn back.
We took a look at the maintenance trail we'd followed up and agreed
it was just too steep to go all the way down especially feeling as
tired as we did. So we started following the trail that spiraled down
the mountain. And we walked. We passed by a few things I was sure we'd
seen before, and then a few mountain bikers equipped with lots of lights
and very full-looking panniers. The bikers were heading into the mountain
for some night riding, we were trying to get out before the sun went
down completely.
We kept on hiking. Another two hours went by and we still weren't out
of the park. Fortunately, we were in good spirits, and managed to joke
with one another while we wandered through the woods but that wasn't
enough to keep us warm and keep us on track. Eventually, it started
to get dark, so dark that we could only see the stars above and the
lights of the houses in the distance. Other things, such as the turn
in a path, or the possibility of finding the path we took into the
park, were just about impossible to see.
Finally, three hours after sundown, we come across a gentleman who looked like
he hiked these woods everyday. I called to him, and after staring at
us kind of blankly and quiet, polite disbelief, he said, "can I help
you kids?" I asked him if he could help us figure out where we were.
He then pulled out a map, a flashlight, a compass, another flashlight,
and handed me a small radio to hold for him while he got out a small
bag of GORP he carried "just in case." He handed me the map and said, "you
came out here without any supplies?" I just smiled, nodded a little,
and said, "yep". He laughed at us said we'd hiked about seven miles
from our car, and showed us a trail to follow to a parking lot. There's
a phone there, he said, where you could call a cab.
How embarrassing. I'd taught people how to make it out in the wild with
just a pocketknife and some matches, and here I was lost, confused
and cold in the middle of the night. My girlfriend was not impressed.
Though she was cold, hungry, and ready to find a quick way home.
We were lucky that night. As we walked out into the parking lot, we met
with someone who'd just come into the woods for a quick jog. She was
on her way home, and offered us a ride to our car. We got to the car,
turned on the heater, and drove to the first restaurant we could find anxious
to enjoy any bit of civilization after having been reduced to our barest
essentials for just a few hours.
There you have it folks, a personal illustration of why you shouldn't take
anything for granted. Even though I was an experienced hiker, I made
almost every mistake in the book. First I didn't get a map, so I didn't
trace the path we'd follow. On top of that, and perhaps even worse,
I didn't bring along my compass or a flashlight. I had a pocketknife
with me but it couldn't cut through the night and find our way home
for us so it wasn't all that useful besides slicing up an apple.
A radio would certainly have told us about the cold front coming in,
and we probably would have tried to get down from the mountain sooner.
As it was, we were didn't have the tools to help us "city folk" get
out of the woods.
Do me a favor. The next time you go on a day hike, don't make the same
mistakes we did. Okay. Nobody would. But even so, just in case, take
my advice. Get yourself a good flashlight that can help you read a
map in the dark, light your path, and isn't too clunky. One of the
best flashlights I've ever used while hiking is the
CC Trek Light. Its compact, but it puts out a powerful beam of light.
Remember, unlike wild animals that instinctively make the most of the outdoors,
most people still have to carry what they need to survive with them
into the woods. Make sure you have the right equipment, and don't have
to find yourself using your own experience as an example of what not
to do when heading out for a short day hike.
To view our past articles, please visit our What's
in the News Archives.
As always, please e-mail me with any comments or
article suggestions you might have. If you have a customer service or technical question, please
send to ccraneco@aol.com or call 1-800-522-8863.
If you are interested in using C. Crane's articles on your own Web site,
please let me know. I'd be happy to take a look at your Web site and
see what we can do. Good-bye for now, Carlos. About
the author
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