Email

By Greg Bartlett

My dad’s a scoutmaster, and my brother’s an Eagle Scout. We’ve been camping ever since I can remember, and every time we camp it involves some sort of hike. Then, of course, we go backpacking routinely, and my mom loves to go on day hikes and brings all of us with her. So, hiking is very common in my family. Thankfully, none of us has ever gotten lost for more than a few minutes.

But what happens to hikers who do get lost? If they’re like my dad and brother, they can probably find their way out. In fact, one Eagle Scout in New Hampshire recently did exactly that. When he got lost and his one day hike turned into a three day hike, the seventeen-year-old made fires and searched for a way out, surviving with practically no injuries until he was rescued by search teams. But not everyone is an Eagle Scout. So how do non Eagle Scouts hike safely?

Actually, the answer’s fairly simple. When hiking, especially when hiking alone, make sure you take a cell phone or something else with a GPS device. Just in case you do get lost, it’s also a good idea to take water and possibly food as well, depending on how far out you are hiking.

So let’s say you do take water, some food, and your cell phone. You’ve even hiked this area before, but this time you slip, fall, and hurt yourself and you can’t walk back. So what happens now? You can call someone to rescue you, of course. But the phone also has another purpose. Cell phones usually have a GPS device inside them, and rescuers can use the GPS technology to find your precise location, which is very helpful since you don’t want to have to wait around for hours while the rescue team searches for you.

For instance, in Phoenix a man recently fell while hiking and fractured his ankle. He called 911 immediately, but he wasn’t sure of his exact location, and neither was the rescue team. However, they used the GPS device inside his phone to locate him and bring him to safety. The hiker wasn’t alone, and he did have water with him – he had all the right things. But the GPS tracking in his cell phone made the biggest difference.

So don’t be afraid to go out and enjoy a hike, even if you’re not an Eagle Scout. Just be sure to take along a GPS device.